Oh3c 


UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SCHOOL  OF  LAW 
LIBRARY 


REPORT 


CONVENTION 


CLEVELAND,  JULY  STH  AND  QTH,  1880 


FOR  THE  JUKPOSK  OK  FORMING  A 


STATE  BAR  ASSOCIATION 

A 


INDIANAPOLIS 

REPRINT  BY  THE  HOLLENBECK  PRESS 


3c. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CONVENTION 

CALLED  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  FORMING  A 

STATE  BAR  ASSOCIATION 

HELD  IN  CASE  HALL,  CLEVELAND 
JULY  STH  AND  9TH,  1880 


The  delegates  to  a  general  state  convention,  having  for  its  ob- 
ject the  formation  of  a  State  Bar  Association,  assembled  in  Case 
Hall,  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  at  10  o'clock  A.  M.  on  the  8th  day 
of  July,  1880,  pursuant  to  the  invitation  of  the  Cleveland  Bar  As- 
sociation, issued  in  accordance  with  the  following  resolutions 
adopted  by  that  association  on  the  8th  day  of  May,  1880. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  of  which  the 
corresponding  secretary  shall  be  chairman,  to  correspond  with  the 
several  bar  associations  of  the  state,  and  with  prominent  members 
of  the  bar  of  counties,  where  there  are  no  bar  associations,  upon 
the  subject  of  forming  a  State  Bar  Association,  and  to  appoint  a 
time  and  place  for  the  holding  of  a  convention  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  such  state  association,  and  to  request  each  of  the  local  bar 
associations  to  send  delegates  to  the  said  proposed  state  conven- 
tion, one  delegate  for  every  ten  members  of  such  local  association. 
and  that  the  members  of  the  bar  of  each  county  where  there  are 
no  associations  be  requested  also  to  send  delegates  upon  the  same 
basis  of  representation,  and  that  the  bar  of  any  county  having  less 
than  ten  members  be  entitled  to  one  delegate. 

Rufus  P.  Ranney,  of  Cleveland,  was  named  as  temporary 
chairman  of  the  convention  and  delivered  the  address  of  welcome. 
(See  Appendix.} 


OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 


J.  T.  Holmes,  of  Columbus,  was  appointed  temporary  secre- 
tary. 

The  temporary  chairman  announced  the  following  committees: 

OX    CREDENTIALS. 

Amos  Denison,  Cuyahoga  county. 
S.  A.  Northway,  Ashtabula  county. 
George  W.  Geddes,  Richland  county. 

ON    PERMANENT   ORGANIZATION. 

Durbin  Ward,  Cincinnati. 
T.  J.  Pringle,  Springfield. 
J.  H.  Wallace,  New  Lisbon. 
C.  H.  Grosvenor,  Athens. 
N.  H.  Swayne,  Jr.,  Toledo. 
L.  J.  Critchfield,  Columbus. 
W.  J.  Boardman,  Cleveland. 
William  H.  Upson,  Akron. 
John  A.  McMahon,  Dayton. 

ON    ORDER    OF    BUSINESS. 

R.  A.  Harrison,  Columbus. 
Stanley  Matthews,  Cincinnati. 
R.  D.  Marshall,  Dayton. 
William  Lawrence,  Bellefontaine. 
P.  A.  Laubie,  Salem. 
William  White,  Springfield. 
Luther  Day,  Ravenna. 

Said  committees  were  instructed  as  to  their  respective  places 
and  times  of  meeting,  and  thereupon  on  motion  of  S.  A.  Bowman, 
of  Springfield,  the  convention  adjourned  until  two  o'clock  p.  M. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION. 


The  convention  assembled  at  two  o'clock  p.  M. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  credentials  being  called  for, 
Amos  Denison,  chairman,  presented  and  read  the  following  list 
of  duly  accredited  delegates,  to  wit : 


FIRST    DISTRICT. 

Hamilton  County — Durbin  Ward,  S.  T.  Crawford,  J.  D.  Cox,  W. 
A.  Davidson  and  E.  H.  Kleinschmidt. 

SECOND   DISTRICT. 

Montgomery  County — George  W.   Houk,   H.   Elliott,  J.  L.   H. 

Frank,  J.  A.  McMahon,  O.  W.  Lowe,  R.  D.  Marshall,  R.  M. 

Nevin,  Elihu  Thompson. 
Warren  County — J.  M.  Smith,  J.  D.  Miller. 
Clarke  County — William  White.  S.  A.  Bowman,  T.  J.  Pringle, 

Charles  R.  White,  F.  C.  Goode. 
Greene  County — John  Little,  E.  H.  Munger. 

THIRD    DISTRICT. 

Defiance  County — Henry  Newbegin. 

FOURTH    DISTRICT. 

Erie  County — Homer  Goodwin,  P.  C.  Schinkel,  E.  B.  King. 

Huron  County — Chas.  P.  Wickham,  George  W.  Knapp,  Geo. 
R.  Walker,  Timothy  R.  Strong. 

Lucas  County — R.  C.  Lemmon,  B.  W.  Rouse,  J.  H.  Doyle,  C. 
H.  Scribner,  William  Baker,  Charles  Kent,  Charles  Pratt, 
Barton  Smith,  S.  H.  Pike,  John  C.  Lee,  George  H.  Beckwith, 


6  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

N.  H.  Swayne,  Jr.,  John  R.  Osborn,  Edward  Bissell. 

Sandusky  County — R.  P.  Buckland,  J.  R.  Bartlett,  John  M.  Lem- 
mon. 

Ottazi'd  County — W.  B.  Sloan. 

Lorain  County — P.  H.  Boynton,  Lester  McLean,  W.  S.  Fay. 

Medina  County — L.  M.  Lewis. 

Summit  County — W.  H.  Upson,  E.  P.  Green,  J.  J.  Hall,  M.  C. 
Read. 

Cuyahoga  County — R.  P.  Ranney,  J.  M.  Adams,  S.  Burke, 
Charles  E.  Pennewell,  S.  O.  Griswold,  Samuel  E.  Williamson, 
J.  K.  Hord,  John  W.  Heisley,  V.  P.  Kline,  W.  J.  Boardman, 
H.  L.  Terrell,  George  S.  Kain,  John  Hutchins,  C.  W.  Noble, 
G.  M.  Barber,  J.  P.  Bishop,  E.  J.  Estep,  L.  W.  Ford,  George 
Willey,  A.  J.  Marvin,  N.  A.  Gilbert,  George  H.  Foster,  J.  H. 
Rhodes,  C.  M.  Stone,  W.  C.  McFarland,  M.  D.  Leggett,  M. 
B.  Gary,  M.  R.  Keith,  Amos  Denison,  Ed.  S.  Meyer. 

FIFTH    DISTRICT. 

Brozi'n  County — W.  D.  Young. 

Highland  County — S.  F.  Steel. 

Ross  County— T.  A.  Minshall,  W.  H.  Safford,  Milton  L.  Clark, 
L.  T.  Neal. 

Franklin  County — E.  F.  Bingham,  L.  J.  Critchfield,  George  K. 
Nash,  J.  T.  Holmes,  W.  E.  Guerin,  Gilbert  H.  Stewart,  John 
D.  Sullivan,  D.  T.  McNaghten,  W.  B.  Page,  T.  J.  Duncan. 

SIXTH    DISTRICT. 

Knox  County — F.  C.  Lewis. 

Ashland  County— W.  J.  Smith,  R.  M.  Campbell,  J.  S.  Wertman. 

Morrou1  County — A.  K.  Dunn,  Charles  W.  Allison. 

Richland  County — D.  Dirlam,  Geo.  W.  Geddes. 

Coshocton  County — J.  M.  Williams. 

Wayne  County — James  B.  Taylor. 

SEVENTH    DISTRICT. 

Athens  County — C.  H.  Grosvenor. 

Washington  County — S.  S.  Knowles,  M.  D.  Follett. 


ACCREDITED    DELEGATES  7 

EIGHTH    DISTRICT. 

Jefferson  County — John  H.  Miller. 
Tuscarawas  County — H.  T.  Stockwell. 
Harrison  County — D.  A.  Hollingsworth. 

NINTH    DISTRICT. 

Stark  County— S.  Meyer,  R.  A.  Folger,  A.  J.  Ricks,  D.  Ford- 
ing, George  E.  Baldwin,  Anson  Pease,  F.  L.  Baldwin. 

Columbiana  County — P.  A.  Laubie,  John  Clark,  H.  R.  Hill,  J. 
H.  Wallace,  W.  A.  Nichols,  Charles  D.  Dickinson,  N.  B.  Bil- 
lingsley. 

Mahoning  County — J.  M.  Edwards,  Mason  Evans,  A.  W.  Jones, 
Thomas  W.  Sanderson,  George  F.  Arrel,  J.  R.  Johnson,  Tod 
Ford. 

Trumbull  County — R.  W.  Ratliff,  A.  F.  Moore,  Julius  N.  Cow- 
dery,  George  P.  Hunter,  A.  W.  Thayer,  L.  C.  Jones,  Warren 
Q.  June,  M.  A.  Calhoun. 

Portage  County — Luther  Day,  J.  D.  Horton,  W.  B.  Thomas. 

Lake  County — A.  L.  Tinker,  C.  D.  Clark,  Horace  Alvord. 

Geauga  County — J.  N.  Hathaway,  D.  W.  Canfield. 

Ashtabula  County — H.  B.  Woodbury,  E.  H.  Fitch,  F.  R.  Smith, 
S.  A.  Northway,  Theodore  Hall. 

TENTH    DISTRICT. 

Hardin  County — A.  B.  Johnson,  J.  H.  Smick,  W.  T.  Cessna. 
Logan  County — William  Lawrence. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was,  on  motion,  unanimously 
adopted. 

Upon  the  call  of  the  'chairman  the  committee  on  permanent 
organization,  through  Durbin  Ward,  its  chairman,  made  the 
following  report : 

FOR  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CONVENTION  : 
RUFUS  P.  RANNEY. 

of  Cleveland. 


5  OHIO   STATE   BAR   ASSOCIATION 

FOR  VICE-PRESIDENTS  : 

ist  District — Samuel  T.  Crawford. 

2d  District— William  White. 

3d  District — Henry  Newbegin. 

4th  District — Charles  Kent. 

5th  District — E.  F.  Bingham. 

6th  District — D.  Dirlam. 

7th  District — S.  S.  Knowles. 

8th  District— J.  H.  Miller. 

9th  District — S.  Meyer. 

loth  District — William  T.  Cessna. 

FOR  SECRETARIES: 

J.  T.  Holmes,  Columbus. 
W.  A.  Davidson,  Cincinnati. 

On  motion  the  report  of  the  committee  on  permanent  organi- 
zation -was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  suggestion  of  Mr.  Newbegin  of  the  Third  District,  that 
Judge  Latty's  name  be  substituted  for  his  own  as  vice-president, 
was  not  entertained. 

On  motion  of  W.  J.  Boardman,  Esq.,  all  judges  of  the  supreme, 
district  and  common  pleas  courts,  present,  were  voted  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  delegates  in  the  convention,  an  amendment  to 
admit  all  lawyers  present  to  such  rights  and  privileges  having 
been  meanwhile  made  and  withdrawn. 

The  committee  on  order  of  business,  William  White,  of  Spring- 
field, chairman,  reported,  recommending  the  appointment  of  one 
member  from  each  judicial  district  to  report  to  the  convention 
a  constitution  and  by-laws  for  a  State  Bar  Association. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  unanimously  adopted  and 
a  motion  empowering  the  delegation  from  each  judicial  district 
to  name  its  committee  man  having  prevailed,  the  following 
committee  was  selected : 


CONSTITUTION  9 

ist  District — Stanley  Matthews. 
2d  District — S.  A.  Bowman. 
3d  District — Henry  Newbegin. 
4th  District — S.  E.  Williamson. 
5th  District — Milton  L.  Clark. 
6th  District — A.  K.  Dunn. 
7th  District — M.  D.  Follett. 
8th  District— H.  T.  Stockwell. 
9th  District — P.  A.  Laubie. 
loth  District — A.  B.  Johnson. 

S.  A.  Bowman  moved  that  the  convention  take  a  recess  of 
ten  minutes.  Gen.  Durbin  Ward  moved  that  the  committee 
on  constitution  and  by-laws  have  leave  to  retire  and  consult. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Bowman's  motion  was  withdrawn  and  Gen. 
Ward's  motion  was  adopted. 

Pending  the  retirement  of  the  committee,  Judge  William  White, 
being  called  for,  delivered  an  entertaining  and  instructive  address 
upon  our  judiciary  and  judicial  reform. 

S.  A.  Bowman,  of  Springfield,  on  behalf  of  the  committee  on 
constitution  and  by-laws,  then  made  the  following  report : 

THE  CONSTITUTION. 


This  association  shall  be  known  as  "The  Ohio  State  Bar  As- 
sociation." 

II.    OBJECT. 

The  association  is  formed  to  advance  the  science  of  jurispru- 
dence, to  promote  reform  in  the  law,  to  facilitate  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  to  uphold  integrity,  honor  and  courtesy  in  the 
legal  profession,  to  encourage  thorough  liberal  legal  education, 
and  to  cultivate  cordial  intercourse  among  the  members  of  the 
bar. 


IO  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

III.    MEMBERSHIP. 

The  members  of  the  bar  attending  this  convention  as  dele- 
gates, this  8th  day  of  July,  1880,  are  hereby  declared  to  be 
members  of  this  association,  provided  they  shall,  during  its 
present  session,  pay  the  admission  fee  and  sign  this  constitution. 
Any  member  of  the  bar,  of  good  standing,  residing  or  practicing 
in  the  state  of  Ohio,  may  become  a  member  of  the  association 
upon  nomination  and  vote,  as  hereinafter  provided. 

IV.    ELECTION    OF    MEMBERS. 

All  nominations  for  membership  shall  be  made  by  the  com- 
mittee on  admission,  and  must  be  transmitted  in  writing  to  the 
president  and  by  him  reported  to  the  association,  and  if  any 
member  demands  a  vote  upon  any  name  thus  reported,  the  as- 
sociation shall  thereupon  vote  thereon  by  ballot.  Several  nom- 
inees may  be  voted  upon  on  the  same  ballot,  and  in  such  case 
placing  the  word  "no"  against  any  name  or  names  upon  the 
ticket  shall  be  deemed  a  negative  vote  against  such  name  or 
names,  and  against  those  only.  One  negative  vote  in  every 
five  shall  suffice  to  defeat  an  election.  No  member  of  the  bar, 
residing  in  a  county  where  there  is  a  local  bar  association, 
shall  become  a  member  of  this  association  unless  he  shall  also 
be  a  member  of  such  local  association. 

v.  OFFICERS. 

The  officers  of  the  association  shall  be  a  president,  who  shall 
deliver  the  annual  address,  and  be  ineligible  for  a  second  term ; 
one  vice-president  from  each  judicial  district  reported  by  mem- 
bership in  the  association  ;  a  secretary  and  a  treasurer.  All  of 
these  shall  be  elected  at  the  annual  meeting  and  hold  their  office 
till  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  association,  and  until  their 
successors  are  elected. 


CONSTITUTION  1 1 

VI.    COMMITTEES. 

The  president  shall,  with  the  approval  of  the  association,  ap- 
point the  following  standing  committees :  An  executive  com- 
mittee; a  committee  on  admissions;  a  committee  on  judicial  ad- 
ministration and  legal  reform ;  a  committee  on  legal  education ; 
a  committee  on  grievances,  and  a  committee  on  legal  biography. 
And  each  standing  committee  shall  be  composed  of  one  mem- 
ber from  every  judicial  district  represented  in  the  association. 
A  majority  of  the  members  of  every  committee  who  may  be 
present  at  the  meeting  of  the  association  shall  constitute  a  quo- 
rum of  such  committee  for  the  purposes  of  such  meeting. 

Every  committee  shall,  at  each  annual  meeting,  report  in 
writing  a  summary  of  its  proceedings  since  the  last  annual 
report,  together  with  any  suggestions  deemed  suitable  and  ap- 
pertaining to  its  powers,  duties  or  business.  A  general  sum- 
mary of  all  such  annual  reports  and  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
annual  meetings,  shall  be  prepared  and  printed  by  and  under 
the  direction  of  the  executive  committee,  together  with  the  con- 
stitution, by-laws,  names  and  residences  of  officers,  standing  com- 
mittees and  members  of  the  association,  as  soon  as  practicable 
after  each  annual  meeting. 

VII.    FINAL  ACTION. 

Xo  action  of  the  association  of  a  permanent  nature  or  recom- 
mending changes  in  law  or  the  administration  of  justice  shall 
be  final  until  approved  by  the  standing  committee  to  which  the 
same  shall  be  referred  by  the  association. 

VIII.    PRESIDENT. 

The  president,  or  in  his  absence  the  senior  vice-president, 
shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  association,  and  the  presi- 
dent shall  deliver  an  address  at  the  opening  of  the  meeting  next 
after  his  election. 


12  OHIO   STATE   BAR   ASSOCIATION 

IX.    EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

The  president  and  secretary  shall  be  ex-officio  members  of 
the  executive  committee.  This  committee  shall  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  association  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  constitution 
and  by-laws,  and  shall  be  vested  with  the  title  to  all  its  property 
as  trustees  thereof  and  shall  make  by-laws  for  the  association, 
subject  to  amendment  by  the  association. 

X.    COMMITTEE   OX    ADMISSION. 

The  proceedings  of  this  committee  shall  be  deemed  confidential 
and  shall  be  kept  secret  except  so  far  as  written  or  printed  reports 
of  the  committee  shall  be  necessarily  and  officially  made  to  the 
association. 

XI.    COMMITTEE  ON  JUDICIAL  ADMINISTRATION  AND  LEGAL  REFORM. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  committee  on  judicial  administra- 
tion and  legal  reform  to  take  record  of  all  proposed  changes  of 
the  law,  and  to  recommend  such  as  may  be  in  their  opinion  en- 
titled to  the  favorable  influence  of  the  association ;  and  further 
to  observe  the  working  of  the  judicial  system  of  the  state,  to 
collect  information  with  reference  thereto,  and  to  recommend 
such  action  as  they  may  deem  advisable. 

XII.    COMMITTEE  ON  LEGAL  EDUCATION. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  committee  on  legal  education  to 
examine  and  report  what  change  it  is  expected  to  propose  in  the 
system  of  legal  education  and  of  admission  to  the  practice  of 
the  profession  in  the  state  of  Ohio. 

XIII.    COMMITTEE  ON  GRIEVANCES. 

The  committee  on  grievances  shall  receive  all  complaints  which 
may  be  made  in  matters  affecting  the  interests  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession, the  practice  of  the  law  and  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, and  report  the  same  to  the  association  with  such  recom- 
mendation as  they  may  deem  advisable. 


CONSTITUTION  13 

The  proceedings  of  this  committee  shall  be  deemed  confiden- 
tial and  kept  secret  except  so  far  as  reports  of  the  same  shall  be 
necessarily  and  officially  made  to  the  association. 

XIV.    COMMITTEE  ON  LEGAL  BIOGRAPHY. 

The  committee  on  legal  biography  shall  provide  for  the  preser- 
vation among  the  archives  of  the  association  of  suitable  written 
or  printed  memorials  of  the  lives  and  characters  of  deceased 
members  of  the  Ohio  Bar. 

SECRETARY. 

The  secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings  and  con- 
duct the  correspondence  of  the  association,  and  perform  the 
usual  duties  of  such  office. 

TREASURER. 

The  treasurer  shall  collect  and  by  order  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee disburse  all  funds  of  the  association  and  keep  regular 
accounts,  which  at  all  times  shall  be  open  to  the  inspection  of 
any  member  or  members  of  the  executive  committee. 

ANNUAL  MEETING. 

This  association  shall  meet  annually  at  such  time  and  place  as 
the  executive  committee  may  select,  and  those  present  at  such 
meeting  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

DUES. 

The  admission  fee  will  in  all  cases  be  $2.00.  The  annual  dues 
of  members  shall  be  82.00,  to  be  paid  yearly  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  association,  and  no  person 
shall  be  qualified  to  exercise  any  privilege  of  membership  who 
is  in  default. 


14  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

AMENDMENTS. 

This  constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended  by  a  vote  of  a 
majority  of  the  members  present,  at  any  annual  meeting,  with 
the  approval  of  the  executive  committee. 

A  motion  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  committee  was  seconded. 
,  Thereupon  A.  B.  Johnson  moved  to  amend  by  striking  from 
the  last  clause  the  words  "with  the  approval  of  the  executive 
committee." 

The  proposed  amendment  was  supported  by  Messrs.  Johnson. 
Heisley,  Hutchins  and  Lee,  and  was  opposed  by  Messrs.  New- 
begin,  Griswold,  Burke,  Folger,  and  Grosvenor. 

A  motion  to  amend  the  provision  that  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers present  may  alter  or  amend  the  constitution  by  substituting 
"three-fourths"  instead  of  the  words  "a  majority"  was  made  and 
withdrawn. 

The  amendment  offered  by  Air.  Johnson  was  lost. 

Mr.  Baker,  of  Toledo,  moved  to  amend  so  as  to  make  the  presi- 
dent ineligible  for  the  next  ensuing  term  only. 

Amendment  lost. 

Mr.  Heisley  moved  that  the  committee  be  instructed  to  report 
a  provision  for  calling  a  special  meeting. 

Motion  lost. 

The  question  recurring  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the 
committee,  the  same  was  adopted,  nan.  con. 

Mr.  Bowman  moved  that  a  committee  of  one  from  each  ju- 
dicial district,  on  officers  of  the  association,  be  appointed. 

The  chairman  suggested  that  the  motion  was  out  of  order. 
"This  is  a  convention  still,  and  not  an  association." 

A  motion  to  adjourn  was  disregarded,  and  Mr.  Bowman's 
motion  was  adopted. 

The  following  persons  were  named  as  such  committee : 

ist  District — Durbin  \Yard. 
2d  District — John  Little. 
4th  District — Wm.  H.  Upson. 
5th  District— Thad.  A.  Minshall. 


OFFICERS  15 

6th  District — George  W.  Geddes. 
7th  District — C.  H.  Grosvenor. 
8th  District — John  H.  Miller. 
9th  District — H.  B.  Woodbury. 
loth  District — John  H.  Smick. 

The  committee,  on  leave,  retired,  and  after  a  brief  consultation 
made  the  following  report  on  officers  of  the  association  : 

For  President. 
Rufus  P.  Ranney. 

For  Vice  Presidents. 

ist  District — Stanley  Matthews. 

2d  District — Geo.  W.  Houk. 

3d  District — H.  Newbegin. 

4th  District — R.  P.  Buckland. 

5th  District — Leander  J.  Critchfield. 

6th  District — D.  Dirlam. 

7th  District — S.  S.  Knowles. 

8th  District — D.  A.  Hollingsworth. 

9th  District — Luther  Day. 

loth  District — Win.  Lawrence. 

For  Secretary. 
J.  T.  Holmes. 

For  Treasurer. 
W.  J.  Boardman. 

The  motion  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  committee  was  put  by 
General  Grosvenor,  and  unanimously  adopted  by  the  association. 

J.  M.  Adams,  on  behalf  of  the  Cleveland  Bar  Association,  ex- 
tended an  invitation  to  delegates  and  their  families  to  take  a 
ride  on  the  lake  in  the  steamer  Pearl,  at  2  p.  M.  to-morrow. 

On  motion  the  invitation  was  accepted  with  thanks  by  the 
association. 


1 6  OHIO    STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

A  motion  to  adjourn  until  to-morrow  morning  was  not  en- 
tertained. 

A  motion  to  adjourn  until  8  p.  M.  to-day,  suspended. 

A  motion  to  instruct  district  delegations  to  furnish  the  presi- 
dent a  name  for  each  standing  committee  was  withdrawn. 

The  president  requested  the  district  delegations  to  confer  with 
him  and  furnish  such  names. 

William  Lawrence  offered  and  moved  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  on  judicial  administration  and 
law  reform  be  and  are  directed  to  prepare  the  plan  of  a  judicial 
system  for  the  state,  which,  if  properly  administered,  will  render 
it  practicable  to  secure  a  final  disposition  of  every  litigated  case 
in  courts,  in  one  year  or  less,  and  to  present  the  same  to  the 
Governor  and  request  him  to  urge  the  legislature  to  provide  for 
its  adoption.  Also  that  the  president  of  the  association  be  ap- 
pointed an  additional  member  and  chairman  of  said  committee 
for  the  purpose  stated. 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Lawrence's  address  in  support  of  his  reso- 
lution, the  motion  to  adjourn  until  eight  o'clock  p.  M.  was 
adopted. 

At  eight  o'clock  p.  M.,  pursuant  to  adjournment,  the  associa- 
tion, with  a  large  audience  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  convened 
and  listened  to  the  address  of  Stanley  Matthews.  (See  Ap- 
pendix. ) 

FRIDAY  MORNING,  July  9,  9  o'clock. 

The  association  convened. 

John  Little  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

That  the  executive  committee  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  di- 
rected to  cause  3,000  copies  of  the  minutes  of  the  convention 
and  association,  including  the  constitution  and  by-laws  and  the 
opening  address  and  that  of  Judge  Matthews,  to  be  printed  in 
pamphlet  form  and  distributed  among  the  members  for  circu- 
lation. 

Adopted. 

Stanley  Matthews  moved  that   all  ex-judges  of  the  supreme 


GENERAL    MINUTES  I/ 

court  may  become  members  of  the  association  by  signing  the 
constitution  and  paying  initiation  fee. 

L.  J.  Critchfield  moved  to  amend  by  saying,  "all  judges  and 
ex-judges  of  the  supreme  court  be  ex-officio  members." 

Motion  as  amended  adopted. 

Mr.  Houk  moved  a  reconsideration  of  the  adoption  of  the  pro- 
vision of  the  constitution  in  relation  to  admission  to  the  associa- 
tion. 

Unanimous  consent  not  given,  motion  not  entertained. 

Mr.  Bowman  moved  that  when  the  association  adjourned  it 
adjourn  to  meet  at  Columbus  on  the  28th  day  of  December  next. 

Adopted. 

The  question  of  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  offered  by  Mr. 
Lawrence  at  the  close  of  yesterday's  afternoon  session  recurring, 
Mr.  Critchfield  offered  the  following  substitute : 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  on  judicial  administration  and 
law  reform,  together  with  the  president  of  the  association,  are 
instructed  to  prepare  a  plan  to  facilitate  the  administration  of 
justice  in  this  state,  and  to  report  such  plan  to  this  association 
at  its  adjourned  meeting. 

They  are  also  requested  to  publish  the  plan  previous  to  such 
meeting. 

The  president,  Judge  Ranney,  calling  Judge  White  to  the 
chair,  delivered  an  address  in  support  of  the  substitute. 

(See  Appendix.) 

Judge  P.  A.  Laubie  moved  to  amend  by  inserting  the  word 
"next"  instead  of  the  word  "adjourned" — "next"  being  the  word 
originally  written  in  the  substitute. 

Amendment  lost. 

The  substitute  was  then  unanimously  adopted. 

On  motion  the  association  unanimously  extended  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  Stanley  Matthews  for  the  able  address  which  he  de- 
livered last  evening. 

Mr.  Houk  offered  the  following : 

Resolved,  That  the  Cincinnati  daily  and  weekly  Law  Bulle- 
tin may  publish  all  proceedings  of  meetings,  notices  of  this  as- 


i8 

sociation,  etc.,  no  charge  to  be  made  for  the  same,  and  shall  be 
the  official  organ  of  the  Ohio  State  Bar  Association  for  the  en- 
suing year. 
Adopted. 

The   following   standing   committees   were    appointed   by    the 
president  with  the  approval  of  the  association. 

COMMITTEE  ON  ADMISSIONS. 

ist  District — W.  A.  Davidson. 
2d  District — S.  A.  Bowman. 
3d  District — Henry  Newbegin. 
4th  District — William  Baker. 
5th  District — Thad.  A.  Minshall. 
6th  District — J.  S.  Westerman. 
7th  District — M.  D.  Follett. 
8th  District — D.  A.  Hollingsworth. 
pth  District — P.  A.  Laubie. 
loth  District — J.  H.  Smick. 

EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 

ist  District — Stanley  Matthews. 
2d  District — John  Little. 
3d  District— 

4th  District — Wm.  H.  Upson. 
5th  District — E.  F.  Bingham. 
6th  District — Geo.  W.  Geddes. 
7th  District — C.  H.  Grosvenor. 
8th  District — D.  A.  Hollingsworth. 
9th  District — H.  B.  Woodbury. 
loth  District — A.  B.  Johnson. 

COMMITTEE    ON    JUDICIAL    ADMINISTRATION    AND    LEGAL    REFORM. 

ist  District — Durbin  Ward. 

2d  District — John  A.  McMahon. 


STANDING    COMMITTEES 

3d  District — Alex  S.  Latty. 
4th  District — Charles  Kent. 
5th  District — R.  A.  Harrison. 
6th  District — A.  K.  Dunn. 
7th  District — S.  S.  Knowles. 
8th  District— H.  T.  Stock  well, 
gth  District — T.  W.  Sanderson. 
loth  District — Wm.  Lawrence. 

COMMITTEE  ON  LEGAL  EDUCATION. 

ist  District — E.  H.  Kleinschmidt. 

2d  District — J.  M.  Smith. 

3d  District — 

4th  District — Homer  Goodwin. 

5th  District— S.  F.  Steele. 

6th  District — R.  W.  Campbell. 

7th  District— M.  D.  Follett. 

8th  District— John  H.  Miller. 

9th  District — S.  Meyer. 

loth  District — J.  H.  Smick. 

COMMITTEE  ON  GRIEVANCES. 

ist  District — S.  T.  Crawford. 
2d  District — R.  M.  Xevin. 
3d  District— 

4th  District — S.  E.  Williamson. 
5th  District — W.  D.  Young. 
6th  District— J.  W.  Smith. 
7th  District — C.  H.  Grosvenor. 
8th  District— H.  T.  Stockwell. 
9th  District — A.  L.  Tinker, 
loth  District — A.  L.  Allen. 

COMMITTEE  ON   LEGAL  BIOGRAPHY. 

ist  District — Durbin  Ward. 
2d  District — E.  Thompson. 


2O  OHIO    STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

3d  District — 

4th  District — John  R.  Osborn. 
5th  District — William  H.  Safford. 
6th  District — F.  C.  Lewis. 
7th  District — S.  S.  Knowles. 
8th  District— John  H.  Miller. 
9th  District — Geo.  P.  Hunter. 
10  District — \Vm.  Lawrence. 

The  name  of  A.  S.  Latty  was  added  to  the  committee  on  judi- 
cial administration  and  legal  reform  as  the  member  from  the 
third  district,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Ward. 

On  motion  the  standing  committees  were  approved. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Critchfield  the  committee  on  admissions 
was  requested  to  report,  and,  after  a  brief  consultation,  reported 
the  following  nominations  for  membership : 

Salem — Jacob  A.  Ambler,  Peter  Ambler,  B.  S.  Ambler,  Thomas 
Kennett,  J.  C.  Boon,  Rush  Taggart,  L.  L.  Gilbert,  J.  T.  Brooks, 
J.  D.  Fountain. 

New  Lisbon — S.  J.  Firestone,  C.  Hune,  Harvey  Morrison,  John 
McVicker,  William  J.  Jordan,  H.  E.  Frost,  John  M.  Dickinson, 
W.  S.  Potts,  Simon  Wisden,  L.  W.  Morris,  H.  W.  Brown,  William 
G.  Wells,  George  H.  Hallam,  James  W.  Rielly,  P.  C.  Young,  P. 
M.  Smith,  James  G.  Moore,  T.  A.  Collins,  M.  E.  Taggart,  C.  N. 
Snyder,  George  W.  Love,  E.  S.  Hallaway,  Tohn  G.  Beatty,  F.  A. 
Witt. 

Second  District — James  S.  Goode,  W.  R.  Womack,  James 
E.  Hawes,  H.  H.  Williams,  A.  F.  Hume,  D.  L.  Meeker,  James 
A.  Gilmore,  A.  W.  Doane,  D.  A.  Haines. 

Fourth  District — H.  H.  Dodge. 

Greene  County — Roswell  F.  Howard,  Benow  Xesbitt,  Charles 
C.  Shearer,  Freeman  P.  Martin,  Charles  Darlington.  Milo  Snod- 
grass,  Peter  R.  Schmebley.  Thomas  E.  Scroggy,  Campbell  L. 
Maxwell,  Thomas  L.  McGruder. 


NOMINATIONS    FOR    MEMBERSHIP  21 

Defiance  County — Silas  T.  Sutphen,  X.  G.  Johnson,  Henry 
Hardy,  Benjamin  R.  Kingsbury,  William  C.  Holgate. 

Putnam  County — J.  J.  Moore. 

Allen  County — C.  M.  Hughes. 

Williams  County — Albert  M.  Pratt,  Charles  E.  Bentley,  Sehvyn 
N.  Owen,  Thomas  Emery,  Edward  Foster. 

Bryan — Charles  S.  Bentley. 

Seventh  District — Silas  H.  Wright,  John  S.  Friesner,  John  J. 
Harper,  James  Tropp,  J.  P.  Bradbury. 

Lake  County — J.  B.  Burrows,  Perry  Bosworth,  George  W. 
Alvord. 

Cincinnati — P.  B.  Swing,  Jacob  Burnett,  W.  L.  A  very,  Joseph 
Cox,  Fayette  Smith,  F.  W.  Moore,  N.  Longworth,  R.  A.  Johns- 
ton, Isaac  B.  Matson,  Rufus  Keing,  George  Hoadley,  T.  D.  Lin- 
coln, A.  Long,  H.  B.  Banning,  John  F.  Follett,  A.  E.  Ferguson, 
W.  F.  Forrest,  W.  M.  Ramsey,  J.  B.  Stallo,  E.  W.  Kittredge,  M. 
F.  Force,  J.  B.  Foraker,  Judson  Harmon,  G.  H.  Wald,  E.  B.  Ma- 
lony,  J.  H.  Bates,  J.  R.  Murdoch,  J.  R.  Sayler,  T.  A.  Logan,  J.  D. 
Cox,  H.  A.  Merrill,  A.  Taft,  J.  R  Murphy,  W.  H.  Pugh. 

Trumbull  County — E.  B.  Taylor,  W.  T.  Spear. 

Elyria — G.  J.  Clark,  E.  G.  Johnson,  E.  C.  Manter,  A.  W.  Nich- 
ols, George  C.  Jeffries,  George  P.  Metcalf,  I.  A.  Webster,  C.  W. 
Johnston,  A.  R.  Webber,  D.  J.  Xye,  X.  L.  Johnson,  J.  M.  Hord, 
F.  A.  Beckwith,  S.  J.  Clark. 

Wellington— J.  H.  Dickson,  W.  F.  Herrick. 

Oberlin—C.  A.  Metcalf. 

North  Aniherst — E.  H.  Hinman. 

Cleveland— B.  R.  Davis,  S.  M.  Eddy,  E.  Sowers,  L.  A.  Russell, 
J.  H.  Webster,  George  A.  Groot,  A.  T.  Brewer,  A.  J.  Williams, 
J.  M.  Henderson,  John  C.  Hutchins,  A.  C.  Caskey,  H.  C.  Ranney, 
J.  H.  Hoyt,  L.  A.  Willson,  O.  J.  Campbell,  Andrew  Squires,  John 
C.  Grannis,  W.  S.  Kerruish,  William  Clark,  J.  W.  Tyler,  John 
Coon,  T.  J.  Wing,  J.  E.  Ingersoll,  Arnold  Green,  James  Mason. 

Jefferson— N.  L.  Chaffee,  W.  P.  Rowland,  E.  C.  Wade,  W.  H. 


22  OHIO   STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

Ruggles,  E.  Jay  Pinney.  A.  C.  White,  E.  B.  Leonard,  John  C. 
Talcott. 

Ashtabnla — T.  S.  Hoyt,  John  Strong,  L.  S.  Sherman,  F.  A. 
Pettibone,  Charles  Booth,  Eusebius  Lee,  Edgar  Hall. 

Conncant — A.  W.  Cox,  C.  R.  Goddard. 

Toledo — J.  P.  Pugsley.  C.  H.  Scribner.  Frank  B.  Swayne, 
James  M.  Brown,  James  M.  Ritchie.  Edward  Bissell,  George  R. 
Haynes,  Burchard  Hays,  Charles  Dodge,  Emory  D.  Potter,  Jr., 
\Yilliam  F.  Lockwood,  Joshua  R.  Seney,  Richard  Waite,  Edward 
T.  Waite,  Charles  D.  Wilson,  Harvey  Scribner,  David  R.  Austin, 
Avery  Hill,  James  J.  French,  James  M.  Hueston,  E.  P.  Raymond, 
John  F.  Kumler,  J.  Kent  Hamilton,  Joseph  D.  Ford,  William  A. 
Collins,  W.  S.  Thurston. 

Highland  County — Alphonso  Hart,  LTric  Sloane,  A.  G.  Mat- 
thews, James  H.  Thompson,  Xelson  Barrere,  Henry  M.  Higgins, 
Henry  L.  Dickey,  Charles  H.  Collins,  Cyrus  Newby,  John  T. 
Hire,  James  M.  Dunrenil,  R.  T.  Hough,  R.  T.  Ditley,  William  H. 
Irwine,  William  H.  Eckman.  Augustus  Harmon,  Kirby  Smith, 
E.  M.  DeBruin,  William  M.  Meek. 

Akron — S.  Edgington. 

Columbus — Chancery  X.  Olds,  Francis  Collins,  William  J.  Gil- 
more,  Eugene  Lane,  Bryan  Collins,  John  G.  Mitchell,  R.  H.  Platt, 
Benjamin  Woodbury,  D.  E.  Williams.  H.  J.  Booth,  George  L. 
Converse,  T.  J.  Keating;  W.  O.  Henderson.  G.  O.  Hamilton,  E. 
L.  Taylor,  H.  C.  Taylor.  G.  G.  Collins,  George  J.  Atkinson,  J. 
W.  Firestone,  J.  M.  Lowe,  John  M.  Pugh.  J.  C.  L.  Pugh,  John 
H.  Heitmann,  W.  T.  Wallace.  F.  F.  D.'  Albery.  F.  W.  Arnold, 
D.  K.  Watson,  A.  E.  Creighton.  J-  D.  Burnett.  R.  C.  Fulton,  Jo- 
seph Olds,  S.  F.  Marsh,  H.  L.  Jones.  J.  C.  Richards,  John  C. 
Groom,  William  J.  Clark,  A.  L.  Keister,  H.  •  J.  Wylie.  James  L. 
Bates,  J.  A.  Miles.  C.  G.  Saffin,  H.  P.  Andrus.  E.  P.  Evans,  E.  B. 
Jewett,  Charles  Ozias,  L.  Baker,  H.  B.  Albery,  R.  P.  Woodruff, 
S.  P.  Mulford,  John  G.  McGuffey,  William  C.  Stewart.  S.  Ham- 
bleton,  J.  M.  Tibbetts,  J.  M.  Mooney.  H.  M.  Butler.  F.  W.  Wood, 
P.  E.  Fleck.  L.  D.  Hagerty.  I.  H.'  Crum.  A.  L.  Ralston.  C.  H. 
Rippey,  William  Dennison,  J.  A.  Wilcox.  George  B.  Okey,  David 


NOMINATIONS    FOR    MEMBERSHIP  23 

Jones,  J.  H.  Outhwaite,  T.  P.  Linn,  C.  E.  Burr,  Jr.,  James  Wat- 
son,  George  S.  Peters,  Luke  G.  Byrne,  D.  C.  Welling,  George  L. 
Artz,  R.  C.  Hoffman,  F.  F.  Hoffman,  James  F.  Hoffman,  E.  L. 
DeWitt,  A.  W.  Krumm,  Ivor  Hughes,  G.  J.  Marriott.  J.  Y.  Lee, 
Charles  Tappan,  R.  T.  Clark,  L.  English,  J.  William  Baldwin, 
DeWitt  C.  Jones,  George  D.  Jones,  C.  T.  Clark,  Horace  Wilson, 
Percy  R.  Wilson,  J.  J.  Stoddart,  John  L.  Green,  Henry  C.  Xoble, 
James  E.  W'right,  R.  B.  Smith,  G.  F.  Castle,  J.  H.  Godman,  Allen 
Miller. 

On  motion  the  names  were  read  to  the  convention  by  the  secre- 
tary. 

A  motion  instructing  the  secretary  to  sign  the  names  of  nom- 
inees to  the  constitution,  upon  request  and  payment  of  fees,  was 
adopted. 

A  motion  was  adopted  requesting  the  members  of  the  bar 
throughout  the  state  to  form  associations  to  cooperate  with  this 
association. 

The  following  resolution  wras  offered  by  W.  D.  Young,  Esq. : 

That  the  several  standing  committees  be  requested  to  organize 
immediately,  and  that  they  report  to  the  secretary  the  names  and 
addresses  of  their  officers,  to  be  by  the  executive  committee  pub- 
lished with  the  minutes  of  this  association. 

Adopted. 

The  following  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  association  : 

Resoh'cd,  That  the  thanks  of  this  association  are  hereby  ten- 
dered to  the  members  of  the  Cleveland  Bar  Association,  for  their 
hospitalities  and  courtesies,  extended  to  the  delegates  of  this  as- 
sociation. 

On  motion  the  association  adjourned  to  meet  at  Columbus  on 
the  28th  day  of  December,  1880. 

Immediately  after  adjournment  the  following  standing  com- 
mittees organized  and  reported  the  names  and  addresses  of  their 
officers,  under  the  resolution  therefor  : 

COMMITTEE    OX    ADMISSIONS. 

Chairman,  WILLIAM  BAKER,  Toledo. 
Secretary,  WILLIAM  A.  DAVIDSON.  Cincinnati. 


24  OHIO   STATE   BAR   ASSOCIATION 

EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE. 

Chairman,  RUFUS  P.  RANNEY,  Cleveland. 
Secretary,  WILLIAM  H.  UPSON,  Akron. 

COMMITTEE    ON    JUDICIAL    ADMINISTRATION    AND    LEGAL    REFORM. 

Chairman,,  DURBIN  WARD. 
Secretary,  H.  T.  STOCKWELL. 

COMMITTEE   OX    LEGAL   EDUCATION. 

Chairman,  HOMER  GOODWIN,  Sandusky. 
Secretary,  S.  F.  STEELE,  Hillsborougri. 

COMMITTEE    ON    GRIEVANCES. 

Chairman,  SAMUEL  E.  WILLIAMSON,  Cleveland. 
Secretary,  W.  D.  YOUNG,  Ripley. 

COMMITTEE   ON    LEGAL   BIOGRAPHY. 

Chairman,  WILLIAM  H.  SAFFORD,  Chillicothe. 
Secretary,  E.  THOMPSON,  Dayton. 


MEMBERS— DECEMBER  i,  1880 


Name. 

ANEL,  GEORGE  F. 
AMBLER,  J.  A. 
ADAMS,  J.  M. 
ALLEN,  A.  L. 
ALVORD,  H. 
BAKER,  WILLIAM 
BECKWITH,  GEO.  H. 

BUCKLAND,  R.  P. 
BlNGHAM,  E.  F. 

BOWMAN,  S.  A. 

BOARDMAN,  W.  J. 

BARBER,  G.  M. 

BlLLINGSBY,  N.  B. 
BOYNTON,  P.  H. 

BALDWIN,  GEORGE  E. 
BREWER,  A.  T. 
BISHOP,  J.  P. 
BEAVIS,  B.  R. 
BENTLY,  CHAS.  S. 
BROOKS,  J.  T. 
CAMPBELL,  OSCAR  J. 
CLARK,  M.  L. 
CLARK,  A.  H. 
COWDRY,  J.  N. 
CLARK,  JOHN 
CRITCHFIELD,  L.  J. 
CRAWFORD,  S.  T. 
CADWELL,  D. 
CANFIELD,  D.  W. 
CULVER,  E.  M. 
CLARK,  C.  D. 
CLARK,  E.  J. 
COON,  JOHN 
CASKEY,  A.  C. 
CLARK,  W.  T. 
DUNCAN,  THOMAS  J. 
DIRLAN, D. 
DUNN,  A.  K. 
DICKERSON,  CHARLES  D. 
DAVIDSON,  WM.  A. 
DENNISON,  AMOS 
DARLINGTON, 
DEWOLF,  HOMER  B. 
ELLIOTT,  H. 


Town. 

Youngstown, 
Salem, 
Cleveland, 
Ken  ton, 
Painesville, 
Toledo, 
Toledo, 
Freemont, 
Columbus, 
Springfield, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
New  Lisbon, 
Elyria, 
Canton, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Bryan, 
Salem, 
Cleveland, 
Chillicothe, 
East  Liverpool, 
Niles, 

New  Lisbon, 
Columbus, 
Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, 
Chardon, 
Sandusky, 
Willoughby, 
Elyria, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Columbus, 
Mansfield, 
Mt.  Gilead, 
Columbiana, 
Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, 
Xenia, 
Cleveland, 
Dayton, 


County. 
Mahoning 
Columbiana 
Cuyahoga 
Hardin 
Lake 
Lucas 
Lucas 
Sandusky 
Franklin 
Clarke 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Columbiana 
Lorain 
Stark 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Williams 
Columbiana 
Cuyahoga 
Ross 

Columbiana 
Trumbull 
Columbiana 
Franklin 
Hamilton 
Cuyahoga 
Geauga 
Erie 
Lake 
Lorain 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Franklin 
Richland 
Morrow 
Columbiana 
Hamilton 
Cuyahoga 
Greene 
Cuyahoga 
Montgomery 


26 


OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 


Name. 
EDGERTON,  S. 
EVANS,  MASON 
ESTEP,  E.  J. 
EDWARDS,  J.  M. 
FOLLETT,  M.  D. 

FlNNEFROCK,  T.  P. 

FITCH,  EDW.  H. 
FAY,  W.  L. 
FRANK,  J.  L.  H. 
FOLGER,  R.  H. 
FORD,  TOD 
FOSTER,  GEO.  H. 
FOSTER,  EDWARD 
GILBERT,  LUCIEN  L. 
GUERIN,  W.  E. 
GROSVENOR,  C.  H. 
GREEN,  E.  P. 
GOODK,  FRANK  C. 
GOODWIN,  H. 
GILBERT,  N.  A. 
GRISWOLD,  S.  O. 
GARY,  M.  B. 
GREEN,  ARNOLD 
HUTCHINS,  JOHN 
HOLLINGWORTH,  D.  A. 
HUTCHINS,  J.  C. 
HOLMES,  J.  T. 
HOUK,  GEO.  W. 
HALL,  J.  J. 
HUNTER,  GEO.  P. 
HILL,  R.  H. 
HATHAWAY,  I.  N. 
HORTON,  J.  D. 
HALL,  E. 
HALL,  THEODORE 
HAMILTON,  E.  T. 
HEISLEY,  J.  W. 
HUNE,  CONRAD 
HARRISON,  R.  A. 
JOHNSON,  J.  R. 
JOHNSON,  A.  B. 
JONES,  J.  M. 
JONES,  A.  W. 
JORDAN,  W.  J. 
KNOWLES,  SAM'L  S. 
KAIN,  GEO.  S. 
KLEINSCHMIDT,  E.  H. 
KING,  E.  B. 
KENT,  CHAS. 
KLINE,  V.  P. 
KEITH,  M.  R. 
KERRUISH,  W.  S. 
LAUBIE,  P.  A. 
LATTY,  A.  S. 


Town. 
Akron , 
Youngstown, 
Cleveland, 
Youngstown, 
Marietta, 
Freemont, 
Jefferson, 
Elyria, 
Dayton, 
Massillon, 
Youngstown, 
Cleveland, 
Bryan, 
Salem, 
Columbus, 
Athens, 
Akron, 
Springfield, 
Sandusky, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland. 
Cadiz, 
Cleveland, 
Columbus, 
Dayton, 
Akron, 
Warren, 
East  Liverpool, 
Chardon, 
Ravenna, 
Ashtabula, 
Ashtabula, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
New  Lisbon, 
Columbus, 
Canfield, 
Kenton, 
Cleveland, 
Youngstown, 
New  Lisbon, 
Marietta, 
Cleveland, 
Cincinnati, 
Sandusky, 
Toledo, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Salem, 
Defiance, 


County. 
Summit 
Mahoning 
Cuyahoga 
Mahoning 
Washington 
Sandusky 
Ashtabula 
Lorain 
Montgomery 
Stark 
Mahoning 
Cuyahoga 
Williams 
Columbiana 
Franklin 
Athens 
Summit 
Clarke 
Erie 

Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Harrison 
Cuyahoga 
Franklin 
Montgomery 
Summit 
Trumbull 
Columbiana 
Geauga 
Portage 
Ashtabula 
Ashtabula 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Columbiana 
Franklin 
Mahoning 
Hardin 
Cuyahoga 
Mahoning 
Columbiana 
Washington 
Cuyahoga 
Hamilton 
Erie 
Lucas 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahega 
Cuyahoga 
Columbiana 
Defiance 


MEMBERS 


Name. 
LITTLE,  JOHN 
LEWIS,  G.  W. 
LEE,  JOHN  C. 
LAWRENCE,  WM. 
LOWE,  THOMAS  O. 
LEGGETT,  M.  D. 
MASON,  JAS. 
MILLER,  J.  D. 

MlNNSHALL,  T.  A. 
McNAUGHTON,  D.  T. 

MCMAHON,  JOHN  A. 
MATHEWS,  STANLEY 
McLEAN,  LESTER 

McFARLAND,  W.  C. 

MILLER,  J.  H. 
MARSHAL,  R.  V. 
MEYER,  S. 
MUNGER,  E.  H. 
MACKEY,  JOHN 
MORE,  J.  J. 
MARVIN,  A.  J. 

McMATH,  J.  H. 

NEWBEGIN,  HENRY 
NICHOLS,  W.  A. 

NORTHWAY,  S.  A. 

NASH,  GEO.  K. 
NEVIN,  R.  M. 
NEAL,  L.  T. 

OSBORNE,  J.  R. 

OWEN,  SELWYN  N. 
PRINGLE,  T.  J. 
PRATT,  CHAS. 
PIKE,  L.  H. 
PENNEY,  T.  E. 
PAGE,  WALTER  B. 
PENNEWELL,  C.  E. 
PETTIBONE,  F.  A. 
PRATT,  ALBER  M. 
RHODES,  J.  H. 
READ,  M.  C. 
RANNEY,  R.  P. 
RICKS,  A.  J. 
ROUSE,  B.  W. 
RUSSELL,  L.  A. 
SMITH,  J.  M. 
SMITH,  J.  W. 
STOCKWELL,  H.  T. 
SWAYNE,  N.  H. 
STEEL,  S.  T. 
SLOAN,  W.  B. 
SULLIVAN,  JOHN  D. 
STEWART,  GILB'T  H. 
SAFFORD,  W.  H. 
SMICK,  J.  H, 


Town. 

County. 

Xenia, 

Greene 

Medina, 

Medina 

Toledo, 

Lucas 

Bellefontaine, 

Logan 

Dayton, 

Montgomery 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Franklin, 

Warren 

Chillicothe, 

Ross 

Columbus, 

Franklin 

Dayton, 

Montgomery 

Cincinnati, 

Hamilton 

Elyria, 

Lorain 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Steubenville, 

Jefferson 

Dayton, 

Montgomery 

Canton, 

Stark 

Xenia, 

Greene 

Sandusky, 

Erie 

Ottawa, 

Putnam 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Defiance, 

Defiance 

New  Lisbon, 

Columbiana 

Jefferson, 

Ashtabula 

Columbus, 

Franklin 

Dayton, 

Montgomery 

Chillicothe, 

Ross 

Toledo, 

Lucas 

Bryan, 

Williams 

Springfield, 

Clarke 

Toledo, 

Lucas 

Toledo, 

Lucas 

Kenton, 

Hardin 

Columbus, 

Franklin 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Ashtabula, 

Ashtabula 

Bryan, 

Williams, 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Hudson, 

Summit 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Cleveland, 

Cuyahoga 

Toledo, 

Lucas 

Cleveland. 

Cuyahoga 

Lebanon, 

Warren 

Ashland, 

Ashland 

New  Philadelphia,    ' 

Tuscarawas 

Toledo, 

Lucas 

Hillsborough, 

Highland 

Port  Clinton, 

Ottawa 

Columbus, 

Franklin 

Columbus, 

Franklin 

Chillicothe, 

Ross 

Kenton, 

Hardin 

28 


OHIO    STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 


Name. 
STRONG,  T.  R. 
STONE,  C.  M. 
SCHENKLE,  P.  C. 
SQUIRES,  ANDREW 
SADLER,  E.  B. 
SOWERS,  E. 
SANDERSON,  T.  W. 
TAGGART,  W.  RUSH 
THAYER,  A.  A. 

TlBBALS,  M.  D. 

TOMPSON,  E. 
TAYLOR,  R.  W. 
THOMAS,  W.  B. 
TERRILL,  H.  L. 
TYLER,  JOEL  W. 
UPSON,  W.  H. 
WARD,  DURBIN 
WILLIAMSON,  S.  E. 
WHITE,  C.  R. 
WERTMAN,  J.  S. 
WILLIAMS,  J.  M. 
WALLACE,  J.  H. 
WHITE,  WILLIAM 
WOODBURY,  H.  B. 
WALKER,  GEO.  R. 
WEBSTER,  J.  A. 
WILLEY,  GEO. 
WEBSTER,  J.  H. 
WILSON,  H.  A. 
WING,  T.  J. 
WRIGHT,  JAMES  E. 
YOUNG,  W.  D. 


Town. 
Norwalk, 
Cleveland, 
Sandusky, 
Cleveland, 
Sandusky, 
Cleveland. 
Youngstown, 
Salem, 
Warren, 
Akron, 
Dayton, 
East  Liverpool, 
Ravenna, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Akron, 
Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, 
Springfield, 
Ashland, 
Coshocton, 
New  Lisbon, 
Springfield, 
Jefferson, 
Norwalk, 
Elyria, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Cleveland, 
Worthington, 
Ripley, 


County. 
Huron 
Cuyahoga 
Erie 

Cuyahoga 
Erie 

Cuyahoga 
Mahoning 
Columbiana 
Trumbull 
Summit 
Montgomery 
Columbiana 
Portage 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Summit 
Hamilton 
Cuyahoga 
Clarke 
Ashland 
Coshocton 
Columbiana 
Clarke 
Ash  tabula 
Huron 
Lorain 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyahoga 
Cuyohoga 
Cuyahoga 
Franklin 
Brown 


APPENDIX 


ADDRESS    OF    R.    P.    RANNEY. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION — I  take  very  great  pleasure, 
on  behalf  of  the  bar  association  of  this  county,  in  welcoming  you 
all  to  the  city  of  Cleveland,  and  to  the  hospitalities  which  I  hope 
will  be  extended  to  you.  I  only  regret  that  the  association  did  not 
see  fit  to  name  some  one  who  could  express  in  more  fitting  terms 
than  I  can  the  warm  thanks  of  the  association  for  the  generous 
response  that  has  been  made  to  their  call  on  the  part  of  the  bench 
and  bar  of  Ohio.  I  would  take  the  occasion  also  to  say  that 
nothing  could  afford  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  see  assembled 
here  so  many  of  the  members  of  the  bar  of  this  state  with  whom, 
in  former  years,  I  have  had  official,  professional  and  personal  re- 
lations, which  constitute  to-day,  and  ever  will,  the  most  pleasing 
recollections  of  my  life. 

If  this  meeting  had  no  other  object  than  that  of  promoting  so- 
cial intercourse  amongst  gentlemen  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit 
and  profession,  it  would  be  well  worthy  to  be  held,  and  the  time, 
and,  as  we  who  live  here  think,  the  place  have  been  most  fittingly 
chosen.  The  members  of  the  bar  are  relieved  temporarily  in  most 
parts  of  the  state  from  the  arduous  duties  which  weigh  upon 
them  during  the  year  by  the  general  adjournment  of  the  courts, 
and  have  come  to  a  vacation,  and  if  there  is  any  class  of  persons 
who  need  relaxation  from  duty  in  order  that  they  may  revive  their 
spirits  and  their  health,  it  is  the  bar  of  the  state.  With  the  weighty 
responsibilities  which  rest  upon  them,  with  the  numerous  annoy- 
ances which  attend  the  practice  of  the  law — and  this  includes  the 
bench  as  well — to  continue  it  through  the  whole  year  is  simply  to 
break  down  in  most  instances  the  best  constitutions  that  are  found 
amongst  the  body. 

And  now,  my  brethren,  it  so  happens  that  we  can  come  together 
in  a  social  manner,  and  renew  old  acquaintances  and  form  new 
ones,  and  cement  new  friendships,  for  which  we  all  live,  and  it  so 
happens  that  we  can  combine  with  it  a  consideration  of  many  im- 


32  OHIO    STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

portant  matters  which  should,  in  my  judgment,  engage  the  atten- 
tion of  the  bar  of  the  state.  The  formation  of  a  State  Bar  Asso- 
ciation is  calculated  to  carry  into  effect  that  determination  to  ce- 
ment a  closer  alliance  between  the  members  of  the  bar  in  all  parts 
of  the  state  than  has  hitherto  existed,  and  to  be  attended  with  the 
consequence  of  giving  unity  and  force  to  such  deliberate  recom- 
mendations as  the  bar  may  see  fit  to  make  to  the  authorities  hav- 
ing in  charge  the  making  of  the  laws  and  the  executing  of  the 
laws ;  to  examine  themselves ;  to  look  over  the  whole  ground  and 
see  what  abuses  exist,  if  any,  and  to  take  measures  unitedly  to  re- 
form them. 

A  close  examination  of^he  bar  itself  has  become  an  absolute 
necessity.  Such  examinations  are  not  calculated  or  never  are 
made  with  the  view  of  giving  a  feeling  of  any  increased  improve- 
ment of  those  who  enter  upon  them.  We  commonly  come  out  of 
such  examinations  rather  chagrined  at  our  own  weaknesses  and 
failings  than  assuming  to  ourselves  an  importance  which  ought  not 
to  belong  to  us.  It  is,  therefore,  a  very  useful  exercise  and  quite 
indispensable  that  the  bar  should  at  all  times  keep  an  eye  to  its 
own  members,  to  its  own  body,  in  order  that  they  may  challenge 
the  public  confidence  which  we  think  is  due  them.  The  bar  of  the 
state  of  Ohio  will  hereafter,  in  public  estimation,  be  just  about 
what  the  bar  sees  fit  to  make  it.  If  the  members  of  the  bar  will 
impress  upon  the  public  at  large  that  honor,  integrity  and  ability 
are  found  in  the  bar  and  will  be  maintained  there,  and  that  the 
public  may  rely  that  in  all  their  connection  with  them  they  will 
find  these  great  and  indispensable  qualities  of  the  lawyer  in  the 
bar  of  the  state,  there  need  be  no  apprehension  that  the  public  at 
large  will  not  accord  them  full  credit  for  it.  Indeed,  in  my  own 
experience,  I  do  not  remember  that  ever  the  public  at  large  have 
been  disposed  to  do  any  injustice  to  the  bar.  While  undoubtedly 
at  times  very  many  pleasantries  and  jokes  are  perpetrated  at  the 
expense  of  the  bar,  still,  when  we  come  down  to  solid  and  solemn 
action  on  the  part  of  the  people,  to  whom  so  soon  do  they  resort 
as  to  the  members  of  the  bar.  and  call  into  requisition  their  abil- 
ity, experience  and  integrity  in  all  the  great  affairs  in  which  the 
public  are  concerned.  This  consideration,  with  such  confiding 


ADDRESS    OF    R.    P.    RAXXEV  33 

disposition  on  the  part  of  the  public,  should  lead  us  to  make  our- 
selves worthy  of  it,  and  when  we  are  worthy  of  it,  I  repeat,  there 
need  be  no  apprehension  that  the  public  will  not  award  it  to  us. 

I  think,  gentlemen,  that  it  is  a  very  good  thing  for  us  all  to 
consider  occasionally  what  responsibilities  naturally  and  neces- 
sarily devolve  upon  us.  what  is  our  position  in  the  body  politic, 
what  space  do  we  occupy,  what  part  do  we  perform  in  the  great 
purposes  of  civil  life  ? 

If  you  will  reflect  for  a  single  moment  that  the  duties  of  the 
lawyer  are  simply  a  succession  and  combination  of  trusts  reposed 
in  him  by  others,  it  will  then  be  apparent  to  you  that  you  all  should 
be  faithful  to  your  trusts.  Think  for  a  moment  what  it  is.  In 
the  first  place,  from  the  bar  is  drawn  the  bench.  The  bench  will 
be  exactly  what  the  bar  is — never  more,  and  certainly  ought  never 
to  be  less.  In  all  times  past  and  in  times  to  come  the  judges  of  the 
superior  courts  of  the  state,  constituting  one  of  its  great  sovereign 
departments,  the  most  important  of  all  of  them,  must  be  derived 
exclusively  from  your  body.  The  administration  of  justice  in  the 
state  must  come  through  the  organs  furnished  by  the  bar  itself 
and  the  bench  of  the  state. 

Again.  Those  who  do  not  pass  from  the  bar  to  the  bench,  and 
exercise  the  accumulated  duties  and  responsibilities  which  high 
positions  upon  the  bench  impose,  have,  nevertheless,  by  their  po- 
sition in  the  state,  imposed  upon  them,  and  upon  them  exclu- 
sively, duties  and  responsibilities  equally  high  and'  equally  im- 
portant. Did  you  ever  reflect  that  the  courts  of  justice  are  al- 
lowed to  be  approached  only  by  members  of  your  own  body  ?  The 
poor  and  the  rich,  the  high  and  the  low.  must  alone  approach  the 
portals  of  justice  in  the  courts  of  the  state  through  the  interven- 
tion of  the  body  of  gentlemen  now  before  me.  It  is  not  permit- 
ted, as  you  all  very  well  know,  for  any  person  to  choose  whom  he 
will  to  represent  him  in  the  important  concerns  that  transpire  in 
the  courts.  He  is  remitted  by  the  law  of  the  land  alone  to  your 
body,  and  upon  your  shoulders  he  alone  can  cast  the  high  respon- 
sibilities which  result  from  the  great  interests  that  may  be  in- 
volved in  the  proceedings  before  the  courts.  You  therefore  oc- 
cupy a  semi-official  relation  to  the  people  of  the  state,  and  yon 
3 


34  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

ought  in  all  conscience,  occupying  that  position  under  the  laws 
of  the  state,  and  commissioned  by  the  state  alone  to  appear  in 
the  courts  of  justice  and  vindicate  the  rights  which  are  there  in 
question,  to  consider  yourselves  as  servants  of  the  highest  order 
for  the  promotion  of  the  public  interests. 

Again.  What  is  it  that  the  members  of  the  bar  and  the  gentle- 
men upon  the  bench  are  called  upon  constantly  to  deal  with  and 
administer?  One  of  the  grandest  sciences  known  in  the  whole 
list,  an  applied  science — applied  a  thousand  times  every  day  to  the 
concerns  of  men  in  society.  Taking  man  in  society,  society  being 
a  necessity  imposed  upon  his  very  existence,  you  take  him  on  the 
outset  and  you  follow  him  through  all  the  various  manifestations 
and  relations  that  he  sustains  in  life  with  other  men,  and  the  law 
goes  right  along  with  you,  regulating  and  controlling  this  intel- 
lectual being  in  all  that  he  does  that  may  have  any  effect  what- 
ever, injurious  or  otherwise,  upon  his  fellow  men.  That  is  the 
law.  It  is  not  an  art ;  it  is  not  a  contrivance  by  which  a  certain 
body  of  gentlemen  earn  a  livelihood,  as  some  people  are  disposed 
to  think.  It  is  not  that,  it  is  administering  the  laws  of  nature — the 
voice  of  God — through  the  constituted  tribunals  of  the  country 
and  through  the  intervention  of  these  chosen  and  trusted  agents. 

Beginning  with  the  very  first  step  in  society,  that  of  husband 
and  wife,  no  sooner  is  the  relation  formed  than  there  arise  out  of 
it  duties  and  obligations  which  the  law  recognizes  and  fixes.  The 
next  step,  no  child  is  born  into  the  world  that  is  not,  the  moment 
he  draws  a  breath,  under  the  protection  of  this  great  science. 

His  person,  anything  that  may  have  been  devolved  upon  him 
in  the  way  of  property,  is  as  carefully  guarded  while  he  lies  un- 
conscious in  the  cradle,  by  these  guardians  of  this  great  science, 
as  though  he  was  capable  himself  of  vindicating  his  rights  with 
physical  power.  Extending  our  thoughts  a  little  wider,  we  go  to 
the  local  communities  in  which  we  live — all  regulated  by  the  law. 
We  extend  them  to  the  state,  that  first  manifestation  of  sovereignty 
growing  out  of  the  aggregation  of  men.  We  still  extend  in  this 
country  beyond  the  state  to  that  grand  association  of  states — 
grand  association  of  great  governments — that  cluster  around  the 
federal  government,  and  along  with  and  in  addition  to  all  the 


ADDRESS    OF    R.    P.    RAXXEY  35 

great  principles  that  experience  and  reflection  for  centuries  have 
defined  as  belonging  to  the  natural  law,  enforced  by  the  municipal 
law,  in  addition  to  all  the  learning  required  to  understand  them 
properly,  we  come  to  that  great  field  in  this  country  of  constitu- 
tional law — the  relation  of  the  states  to  the  federal  government, 
and  of  the  federal  government  to  the  states ;  and  nobody  ever 
practices  law  extensively  that  he  does  not  pass  from  the  lowest 
form  of  social  organization  and  its  legal  regulation,  on,  on,  to 
the  great  questions  that  involve  the  powers  of  states  and  federal 
governments,  as  bearing  upon  individual  rights. 

Again,  in  modern  times  more  particularly,  the  lawyer  may  be 
called,  and  is  often  called  to  determine  what  are  the  rights  of  a 
nation  as  between  it  and  other  nations,  resting  upon  treaties,  and 
resting  still  more  broadly  upon  that  great  system  of  international 
law,  which,  founded  upon  the  laws  of  nature,  enforces  those  laws 
in  the  conduct  even  of  nations  with  each  other. 

I  only  mention  this,  gentlemen,  for  the  purpose  of  coming  to 
the  point  of  impressing  you  for  a  moment  with  the  importance  of 
the  position  you  hold  in  society,  with  the  confidence  that  has  been 
reposed  in  you  by  the  law-making  power,  and  to  ask  of  you  to 
meet  the  requirements  which  this  confidence  imposes,  in  the  first 
place,  by  determining  for  yourselves  and  enforcing  in  a  peremp- 
tory manner  the  introduction  of  members  into  this  body. 

The  law  is  not,  in  one  sense,  what  it  has1  been,  even  within  the 
recollection  of  many  before  me.  The  study  of  the  law,  the  teach- 
ing requisite  to  bring  one  to  the  bar,  even  within  my  own  recol- 
lection, was  quite  a  different  matter  from  what  it  has  come  to  be 
in  later  times.  The  whole  system  of  fictions  and  technicalities 
which  enveloped,  and,  in  my  judgment,  marred  the  beauty  and 
symmetry  of  this  great  science,  has  almost  passed  away.  We  pay 
no  attention -to  forms,  except  so  far  as  forms  may  be  necessary  to 
impress  in  clear  and  explicit  language  the  rights  which  nature  and 
the  municipal  law  confer  upon  individuals,  and  to  complain  of  the 
deprivation,  or  encroachment  upon  those  rights.  That  is  all  the 
remedial  law  really  now  that  falls  within  the  sphere  of  the  stu- 
dent in  qualifying  himself  to  come  forward  and  assume  the  high 
positions  which  a  membership  at  the  bar  imposes.  We  have  come 


36  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

then  really  down  to  the  science  of  the  law,  to  an  understanding 
of  its  great  principles,  to  an  understanding  of  the  infinite  almost, 
which  relation  man  may  bear  to  man,  of  the  rights  which  each  in- 
dividual, as  against  every  other  individual,  is  entitled  to  assert  for 
himself — his  rights  of  person ;  his  rights  to  property,  and  his 
rights  to  maintain  his  reputation  and  everything  else  in  the  world 
that  you  can  conceive  of  that  he  holds  dear. 

An  education,  therefore,  for  the  bar  now,  should  be  of  the  same 
character  as  the  education  conferred  in  the  higher  institutions  of 
the  country,  in  any  of  the  great  sciences  which  have  received 
such  an  impetus,  and  which  now  are  so  generally  brought  home 
to  all  cultivated  and  educated  men.  The  lawr  has  not  been  at  a 
standstill  during  all  these  years,  while  everything  around  us  has 
been  moving.  The  great  science,  with  its  fundamental  princi- 
ples, it  is  true,  has  remained  the  same ;  but  in  the  multiplied  rela- 
tions which  men  have  assumed  during  this  long  period  of  time  in 
society,  these  principles  have  extended  until  they  embrace  every 
possible  relation  that  man,  individually  or  acting  collectively,  can 
sustain  to  his  fellow  man.  During  this  time,  as  you  are  perfectly 
well  aware,  there  has  been  progress  in  most  of  the  sciences  that 
has  astonished  the  world.  \Yhile  the  naturalist  has  been,  through 
ingenuity  and  indefatigable  research,  discovering  worlds  of  ani- 
mated life  beyond  the  ken  of  our  natural  eyesight,  and  while  the 
astronomer,  on  the  other  hand,  to  go  from  small  things  to  great, 
has  been  completely  mapping  the  heavens  and  describing  per- 
fectly the  innumerable  bodies  that  float  through  space,  while  even 
the  sun  has  been  compelled  to  give  up  its  secret  as  to  its  compo- 
sition and  matter ;  while  these  things  have  been  going  on  and  are 
familiarly  taught  in  the  great  institutions  of  the  country,  the  law 
also  has  been  marching  forward,  and  has,  if  the  bar  will  make  it 
so,  attained  a  position,  which,  in  point  of  importance  from  every 
point  of  view,  is  vastly  superior,  vastly  more  useful,  more  neces- 
sary to  mankind  than  any  of  the  advances  that  have  been  made  in 
these  sciences.  The  student,  therefore,  of  the  future,  the  lawyer 
of  the  future,  must  be  the  man  who  can  stand  upon  a  science 
applied  to  man  in  society,  and  understand  the  great  principle? 
which  underlie  his  profession  rather  than  the  man  who  is  familiar 


ADDRESS    OF    R.    P.    RANNEY  37 

with  forms  only,  and  has  a  very  poor  appreciation  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  science  which  he  is  called  upon  to  administer. 

It  is  therefore,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  duty  of  the  members  of 
the  bar  to  use  all  the  influence  they  possess  to  make  the  bar  of  the 
future,  your  associates  for  a  time,  and  your  successors  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  these  great  trusts  in  this  state,  worthy  of  the 
state,  worthy  of  its  population,  and  able  to  meet  and  perform  the 
great  obligation  which  the  position  imposes  upon  them.  It  will 
therefore,  I  presume,  be  thought  necessary  by  the  gentlemen  of 
the  bar  assembled,  to  come  to  a  rational  and  clear  understanding 
as  to  what  ought  to  be  the  qualifications  of  those  who  are  to  be 
hereafter  admitted  to  the  bar. 

Let  me  be  understood  not  as  expecting  that  those  who  come  to 
the  bar  should  come  there  fully  armed  with  the  knowledge  that 
covers  such  a  vast  field  as  this  in  all  its  details.  I  perfectly  well 
know,  and  no  one  knows  better  than  I,  that  the  bar  must  be  re- 
plenished from  what  we  denominate  the  subordinate  walks  of  life 
— young  men  emanating  from  it  with  very  few  advantages  ex- 
cept those  which  are  seized  by  themselves  and  utilized,  and  thus 
by  their  own  exertions  bringing  themselves  forward  to  the  quali- 
fications for  the  high  standing  which  the  bar  ought  to  have. 

I  only  require  that  before  one  takes  upon  his  hands  the  admin- 
istration of  the  great  trusts  which  involve  the  rights  of  the 
widow  and  the  orphan,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  great  and  the 
small,  he  shall  be  competent  to  begin  the  task,  at  least,  which  the 
business  of  his  life  imposes  upon  him,  and  above  all  that  it  shall 
be  carefully  seen  that  he  comes  with  that  ambition  which  from 
day  to  day  adds  to  his  knowledge  of  this  great  science,  and  brings 
that  integrity  above  all  things  upon  which  all  men  may  rely. 

Another  great  duty  devolved  upon  the  bar,  if  it  will  maintain 
its  credit  and  character  and  be  worthy  of  the  position  it  occupies 
in  the  state,  is  to  see  that  those  members  that  prove  unworthy  of 
exercising  these  high  trusts  are  excluded  from  their  body. 

You  can  not  bring  vice  and  incompetency  up ;  they  simply  drag 
you  down,  and  the  bar  will  manifest  itself  to  the  community  as 
worthv  to  be  trusted  when  the  community  sees  that  it  deals  with 


38  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

an  unsparing  hand  with  those  who  abuse  the  high  trust  which  the 
position  imposes  upon  them. 

I  do  not  expect  that  the  bar  is  ever  going  to  be  clothed  with 
the  power  which  carries  into  effect  its  determinations  in  this  re- 
gard, but  its  resolutions  are  none  the  less  important  to  bring  be- 
fore the  constituted  tribunals  every  delinquent  in  its  ranks,  and  set 
him  outside  of  it.  This  is  due  to  the  position  they  occupy  to  the 
public ;  it  is  clue  to  the  state  that  honors  them  with  the  commission 
they  bear ;  it  is  due  to  that  confidence  which  the  state  reposes  in 
them  in  giving  them  access  alone  to  the  tribunals  of  justice  for 
the  trials  and  ascertainment  of  the  rights  of  individuals.  I  do 
not  pretend  myself  to  dictate  nor  even  suggest  what  course  the 
convention  shall  take  in  respect  to  any  of  these  questions.  That 
is  for  the  convention  itself,  when  organized,  to  determine.  I  only 
make  these  few  suggestions  that  are  uppermost  in  my  own  mind, 
and  having  the  credit  of  the  bar  at  heart,  having  spent  my  life- 
time within  her  portals,  and  expecting  to  die  in  the  harness,  I 
only  desire  that  the  bar  shall  do  itself  justice,  and  in  doing  itself 
justice  shall  do  all  men  justice,  and  shall  honor  and  respond  to 
the  confidence  which  the  state  reposes  in  it  as  the  great  instrument 
it  uses  to  approach  its  courts  and  to  have  justice  done  to  its 
people. 

There  is  one  other  thing,  gentlemen,  aside  from  what  I  have 
been  saying  as  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities  which  are  im- 
posed upon  the  bar  that  I  will  simply  mention,  not  because  in  all 
my  life  long  I  have  seen  any  dereliction  upon  the  part  of  the 
members  of  the  bar  in  that  direction.  The  poor,  the  unfortunate, 
the  ignorant,  those  who  can  not  take  care  of  themselves,  will 
abound  in  every  community,  and  be  found  by  every  lawyer  in 
every  community.  It  is  a  beautiful  feature,  therefore,  of  the  ac- 
tion of  the  bar  and  its  members  that  when  they  find  cases  of  that 
sort  they  should  extend  that  charity  which  all  men  owe  to  all 
men,  and  that  they  should  never  turn  away  from  a  man  who  needs 
their  advice  to  set  him  in  the  right,  or  who  needs  their  efforts  to 
vindicate  the  plain  rights  he  may  have  because  he  is  not  able  to 
pay  for  it.  They  should  feel  a  pride  in  their  own  way,  not  being 
extraordinarily  blessed  with  this  world's  goods,  of  diffusing 


ADDRESS    OF    R.    P.    RAXXEV  39 

through  the  poor  and  unfortunate  parts  of  the  community  that 
knowledge  and  exertion  which  peculiarly  belongs  to  them,  and,  as 
I  have  said,  as  they  alone  can  be  relied  upon  to  carry  home  to  the 
benefit  of  the  masses  of  the  people.  I  have  never  seen  any  reluc- 
tance to  do  this,  but  really  I  would  as  soon  justify  a  doctor  who 
should  turn  away  from  the  sick  child  of  a  widow  because  she  could 
not  pay  his  fee,  and  leave  it  to  die,  as  I  would  a  lawyer  who  had 
it  in  his  power  to  set  the  poor  man  right,  or,  if  it  need  be,  to  vindi- 
cate his  rights  through  the  tribunals  of  the  country. 

One  other  thing,  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  permit  me  simply  to 
mention  and  call  to  your  attention,  without  expressing  any  opin- 
ions of  my  own  upon  it,  and  it  seems  to  me  it  is  a  subject  which 
ought  to  engage  your  serious  and  early  attention.  The  lawyer, 
better  than  anybody  else,  knows  what  is  the  working  of  a  judicial 
system,  and  everybody  else  has  a  right — everybody  who  wields 
political  power,  either  through  the  intervention  of  the  people  di- 
rectly or  through  their  representatives  in  the  general  assembly, 
has  a  right  to  know  what  this  experience  on  the  part  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  bar  has  demonstrated — whether  evil  exists,  and  if  evil 
exists,  what  is  the  appropriate  remedy. 

In  one  respect,  it  must  be  evident  to  every  member  of  the  bar 
(and  I  state  a  fact  which  is  equally  well  known  to  every  member 
of  the  bar),  the  administration  of  civil  justice  in  Ohio  has  come 
•to  be  very  unsatisfactory,  especially  in  the  appellate  courts.  I 
know  of  no  state  in  which  the  disposition  of  business  is  so  long 
delayed  as  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  I  am  told  by  those  who  have  the 
best  means  of  knowing,  that  ordinarily  a  case  commencing  in  the 
courts  of  common  pleas  and  taking  its  way,  as  every  controverted 
case  may,  through  all  the  courts  in  which  it  can  go,  stands  a  very 
small  chance  of  being  finally  determined  before  five  or  six  years 
after  its  commencement.  Our  constitution  has  declared  now  for 
more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century  that  the  courts  should  be 
opened  and  justice  should  be  administered  without  denial  or  de- 
lay ;  and  while  I  do  not  suppose  that  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
business  perfect  promptitude  in  the  disposition  of  all  cases  can  be 
expected,  I  still  think  it  to  be  a  very  great  abuse  and  a  very  great 
dereliction  of  duty  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the  state,  or  their 


4O  OHIO    STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

representatives,  that  such  a  state  of  things  should  continue  as 
that  parties  can  not  realize  the  justice  they  seek  short  of  such  an 
interminable  delay.  It  is  productive  not  only  of  the  greatest  pos- 
sible inconvenience,  but  productive  also  of  ruin  to  a  numerous 
class  of  suitors.  In  the  regular  transaction  of  the  business  of  the 
country,  we  think  that  a  settlement  each  year — a  bringing  up  of 
the  business  of  the  year — seeing  how  we  stand  at  the  end  of  the 
year — is  due  to  any  energy  or  enterprise  in  the  prosecution  of  a 
business ;  and  it  should  be  equally  so  with  the  business  transacted 
in  the  courts.  They  should  be  put  upon  such  a  footing  that,  at 
least  for  the  mass  of  the  business  that  comes  into  it,  the  year  shall 
terminate  the  controversies  that  the  year  has  begun.  To  stand  by 
for  five  or  six  years,  embitter  neighborhoods  with  controversy 
and  litigation,  make  those  who  are  deprived  of  their  rights  wait 
and  wait  before  they  can  know  whether  they  are  worth  anything 
or  not,  or  before  the  property  which  may  be  the  subject  of  con- 
troversy can  be  disposed  of  in  any  way  to  support  even  the 
widow  and  the  children  that  may  be  left  by  the  father  to  enjoy  it 
—I  say  to  allow  such  a  state  of  things  to  continue  is  certainly  a 
very  great  abuse.  Now,  it  is  in  the  very  nature  of  the  lawyer 
that  he  does  not  try  to  shrink  from  nor  cover  up  evils  of  this 
kind.  Openly  stated,  openly  discussed,  openly  made  known  to 
the  people  of  the  state,  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  but  that  the 
people  of  the  state,  or  their  legislature,  if  the  remedy  lies  in  that 
direction,  will  be  found  perfectly  ready  at  once  to  correct  this 
great  perversion  of  one  of  the  fundamental  propositions  of  their 
own  constitution  ;  and  I,  therefore,  invite  the  members  of  the  bar 
to  an  attentive  consideration  of  this  most  important  subject,  to 
find,  in  the  first  place,  where  the  fault  lies,  in  what  it  consists,  and 
then  with  that  manhood  which  forever  characterizes  them,  and 
that  courage  which  they  are  displaying  every  day  of  their  lives,  to 
go  to  the  people  or  to  the  constituted  authorities,  and  laying  bare 
the  truth  of  the  case,  call  for  the  correction  of  the  great  evil  to 
which  I  have  alluded. 

It  will  also  undoubtedly  occur  to  the  members  of  the  bar  when 
assembled  in  this  manner,  and  when  consulting  with  each  other 
and  getting  the  aggregate  sense  of  the  bar,  that  an  examination 


ADDRESS    OF    R.    P.    RAXNEY  4! 

of  our  statutes  regulating  the  practice  in  our  courts  should  re- 
ceive their  attentive  consideration.  I  am  pretty  seriously  im- 
pressed myself  with  the  belief  that  some  amendments  in  that  re- 
spect are  imperatively  needed.  I  am  impressed  with  the  belief 
that  there  is  too  much  machinery  about  our  system — machinery 
productive  of  delay  and  expense  and  often  of  injustice — and  that 
really  the  remedy  which  the  lawyer  who  is  imbued  with  a  love  of 
the  great  science  he  is  called  upon  to  administer  will  find  will  be 
a  simplification  of  the  modes  of  procedure  so  as  to  bring  them 
the  most  clearly  within  the  comprehension  of  the  great  masses  of 
the  people,  for  therein  is  to  consist  the  great  beauty  of  this  science 
in  the  future,  and  the  great  strength  of  those  who  administer  it. 
It  is  that  they  will  be  relieved  from  falling  back  upon  mysteries 
and  technicalities  and  fictions  that  people  do  not  understand,  or 
if  they  understand  can  not  approve — falling  back  upon  those 
grand  principles  of  right  and  obligation  which  constitute  the  great 
body  of  this  science,  and  which  ennoble  every  man  who  has  any- 
thing to  do  with  its  administration. 

Let  me  add  one  word.  The  practice  of  the  law,  not  only  all  ex- 
perience shows,  but  all  theory  would  lead  to  the  same  result,  can 
not  do  otherwise  than  make  those  who  assiduously  pursue  it  in  its 
true  spirit  better  men  continually,  as  well  as  stronger  and  more  in- 
telligent men.  It  is  impossible  that  one  can  devote  his  life  to  the 
examination,  comprehension  and  systematizing  of  a  great  body 
of  natural  law  carried  into  municipal  regulation  without  enlarging 
his  understanding,  and  without  binding  him  as  "by  hooks  of 
steel"  to  those  great  principles  which  the  Creator  has  impressed 
upon  all  his  works. 

It  is  impossible  that  one  can  devote  his  whole  life  to  the  devel- 
opment of  facts  through  such  rules  and  principles  as  the  laws  of 
evidence  prescribe,  bringing  to  his  aid  every  fact  and  circum- 
stance, often  remote,  that  bears  upon  the  elucidation  and  truth  of 
any  given  proposition — I  say  it  is  perfectly  impossible  that  he 
should  go  through  his  life  summoning  to  his  aid  all  this  glorious 
connection  which  the  Creator  has  placed  between  things  remote 
and  things  nearer,  and  not  come  out  in  the  end  a  greater  lover  of 


42  OHIO   STATE   BAR   ASSOCIATION 

truth  than  any  man  can  be  who  has  not  passed  through  such  an 
experience. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  detaining  you  any 
time  in  uttering  these  scattered  thoughts  of  mine,  but  I  leave  you 
to  reflect,  I  leave  you  to  consider  whether  your  own  interests,  the 
interests  of  those  who  are  leaning  upon  you,  as  the  whole  com- 
munity does  and  must,  the  interests  of  the  great  state  you  in- 
habit, its  honor  and  glory,  do  not  all  demand  that  you  should  con- 
cur, after  full  discussion  and  full  understanding,  in  supplying 
worthy  associates  while  you  live  and  in  providing  worthy  suc- 
cessors when  you  and  I  have  passed  away — in  bringing  to  the  bar 
and  to  the  administration  of  this  great  science  men  who  are 
worthy  to  carry  upon  their  shoulders  the  great  responsibilities  it 
imposes  and  the  high  confidence  the  community  repose  in  them, 
and  whether,  with  this  sort  of  feeling,  you  are  going  to  permit 
that  the  wolves  who  find  their  way  into  your  flock  shall  remain 
there,  not  only  to  degrade  and  disgrace  you,  but  to  prey  upon  a 
confiding  community  who  have  set  you  as  sentinels  upon  the 
watchtower  to  warn  them  against  the  depredations  of  such  per- 
sons, and  whether  you  will  not  deem  it  a  matter  of  honor,  duty 
and  conscience  alike  to  see  that  the  bar  is  purified — brought  down 
to  its  worthy  members — and  very  careful  to  see  that  there  is  no 
introduction  of  persons  hereafter  into  the  body  that  are  not  able 
to  discharge  these  great  and  important  trusts  in  a  conscientious 
and  enlightened  manner. 


ADDRESS  OF  STANLEY  MATTHEWS 

The  honor  of  an  invitation  to  take  the  part  assigned  me  in 
these  proceedings  was  one  that  I  could  not  afford  to  decline,  at 
whatever  cost  of  labor  or  personal  inconvenience,  and  at  whatever 
peril  of  reputation  in  not  proving  equal  to  the  expectation  of  the 
occasion ;  for  I  could  not  but  regard  it  as  a  marked  professional 
distinction,  awarded  by  professional  brethren,  bearing  upon  it 
the  specific  stamp  and  value  of  their  good  will  and  appreciation. 

Nevertheless,  its  acceptance  involved  embarrassments,  and  of 
these  not  the  least,  perhaps,  was  that  it  furnished  no  guidance 
as  to  the  selection  of  topics  for  this  introduction,  except  what 
might  be  inferred  from  the  scope  and  nature  of  the  occasion 
itself. 

We  have  been  called  together  as  members  of  the  bar  from  every 
part  of  our  good  commonwealth,  upon  the  invitation  of  our  breth- 
ren in  this  beautiful  and  flourishing  city,  to  inaugurate  a  State 
Bar  Association ;  to  form  an  organization  of  the  profession 
throughout  the  state,  which  shall  thoroughly  and  efficiently  em- 
body and  develop  its  corporate  life  and  spirit. 

Local  associations  of  this  character,  germs  of  the  proposed 
association,  have  existed  among  us  in  several  important  centers 
of  activity  for  many  years,  and  have  exhibited  vitality  enough 
at  least  for  their  own  preservation.  Now  that  seems  strong 
enough  for  propagation.  The  fact  of  their  existence  would  seem 
to  imply  a  reason  for  existing.  At  any  rate,  as  in  other  similar 
cases,  the  fact  will  stand  instead  of  the  reason,  until  the  latter  is 
discovered  in  the  utilities  it  will  disclose  and  supply.  Life  is  no 
accident,  either  in  individuals  or  organizations  of  individuals.  Its 
reality  is  proof  of  its  necessity  and  value,  and  justifies  itself 
eventually  by  experience  and  in  history. 

Following  the  analogies  of  our  political  system,  and  meeting 
a  necessity  created  by  it,  there  was  established  two  years  ago, 
under  the  name  of  the  American  Bar  Association,  a  national 


44  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

organization  intended  to  embrace  representatives  of  the  profes- 
sion from  every  locality  in  the  country.  Its  third  annual  meeting- 
will  be  held  in  Saratoga  during  the  month  of  August  next,  where 
its  two  preceding  sessions  have  been  held.  Its  constitution  de- 
clares that 

"Its  object  shall  be  to  advance  the  science  of  jurisprudence, 
promote  the  administration  of  justice  and  uniformity  of  legisla- 
tion throughout  the  union,  uphold  the  honor  of  the  profession  of 
the  law  and  encourage  cordial  intercourse  among  the  members 
of  the  American  bar." 

It  already  embraces  in  its  membership  a  considerable  number 
of  eminent  lawyers  from  widely  separated  portions  of  the  country, 
and  seems  to  be  a  growing  center  of  professional  interest,  as  it 
will  no  doubt  prove  to  be  a  useful  and  efficient  agency  of  profes- 
sional improvement  and  reform  in  the  directions  indicated  by  its 
constitution.  By  its  action  the  attention  of  the  profession  through- 
out the  country  has  already  been  called  to  several  important  re- 
forms to  be  undertaken  for  the  improvement  of  the  law.  Among 
these  are  proper  and  concurrent  legislation  by  the  several  states 
to  secure  uniformity  in  the  acknowledgment  and  authentication 
of  deeds  and  other  instruments  affecting  real  estate,  and  in  the 
mode  of  executing  and  attesting  wills ;  also  the  enactment  of  laws 
for  assimilating  throughout  the  Union,  on  principles  of  comity,  the 
standing  of  members  of  the  bar,  already  admitted  to  practice  in 
their  own  states,  by  admitting  to  equal  rights  and  privileges  as 
practitioners  of  law  in  the  courts  of  all  the  other  states  those  who 
have  practiced  for  three  years  in  the  highest  court  of  the  state 
of  which  they  are  citizens ;  and  also  the  maintenance,  under  pub- 
lic authority  and  regulation,  of  schools  of  law,  with  a  viewr  to  pro- 
mote a  higher  professional  education  and  standard  of  professional 
qualification  in  candidates  for  admission  to  practice  law. 

The  spirit  of  association  in  our  profession,  therefore,  seems 
quite  general.  There  are  many  reasons  why  it  should  be  so, 
and  why  it  should  be  acknowledged  and  encouraged.  It  is  indeed 
but  a  rival  of  an  inherited  tendency.  The  bar  of  England — that 
most  illustrious  body  of  well-trained  men.  who  have  wrought  so 
usefully  and  so  conspicuously  in  the  gradual  construction  of  the 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  4^ 

best  civilization  of  the  age,  whose  traditions  we  follow,  whose 
language  we  speak,  whose  system  of  jurisprudence  we  administer, 
whose  precedents  are  our  authorities — is  to-day  the  only  survivor 
of  the  mediaeval  guilds  that  retains,  untouched  by  the  chances  and 
changes  of  time,  its  ancient  and  original  privileges  and  preroga- 
tives :  chiefly  the  right  of  admitting  and  excluding  from  admission 
to  its  own  membership.  Xo  man  can  be  admitted  to  practice 
law  in  England  except  by  the  bar  of  England.  Its  home  and 
schools  are  still,  as  for  hundreds  of  years  they  have  been,  in  the 
beautiful  temples  by  the  Thames,  the  ancient  seats  of  Christian 
knights,  whose  spirit  of  chivalry  and  charity  and  justice  to  the 
poor  and  weak  still  inspires  the  locality,  and  survives  in  the  tour- 
naments and  jousts  and  peaceful  strifes  and  contests  of  high- 
minded  lawyers,  honorably  maintaining  their  opposing  sides,  but, 
nevertheless,  fighting  in  the  same  great  cause  of  civil  justice 
under  a  common  banner — Suiiiu  cuiqnc  tribncrc. 

The  vast  extent  of  the  field  of  jurisprudence,  covered  by  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  British  judicial  tribunals  and  embraced  conse- 
quently in  the  course  of  investigation  of  every  student  of  English 
law,  is  illustrated  constantly  in  the  judgments  of  the  judicial  com- 
mittee of  the  privy  council.  A  recent  decision  of  that  tribunal,  upon 
an  appeal  from  a  sentence  of  the  vice  admiralty  court  of  Sierra 
Leone,  in  the  case  of  a  Portuguese  brig,  seized  in  the  harbor  of 
Freetown,  in  that  colon}-,  on  the  ground  that  she  was  engaged  in 
the  slave  trade  and  liable  to  forfeiture,  was  reported  in  the  Lon- 
don Times.  The  comments  of  that  paper  upon  the  exercise  of 
that  jurisdiction  are  striking  and  worthy  of  reproduction.  It 
said :  "There  is  another  and  wider  aspect  of  the  case  which  is 
not  unworthy  of  a  few  moments'  attention.  It  illustrates  in  a  strik- 
ing manner  the  vast  and  varied  jurisdiction  of  the  privy  council. 
To  this  supreme  tribunal — a  legal  epitome  of  the  British  Empire 
in  all  its  variety  and  extent — there  come  from  time  to  time 
cases  to  be  decided  according  to  the  principles  of  almost  every 
body  of  laws  in  the  world.  At  one  time  there  may  come  an  appeal 
from  India  which  carries  us  back  in  its  pleadings  and  recitals 
to  the  oldest  institutions  of  the  Aryan  race :  at  another  a  case 
from  our  youngest  colony  may  call  for  an  application  of  the 


46  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

newest  principles  of  the  most  advanced  jurisprudence:  Canada 
may  furnish  a  case  in  which  the  ancient  feudal  law  of  France  is 
involved,  while  the  courts  of  admiralty  beyond  the  seas  send  up 
from  time  to  time  intricate  questions  of  maritime  law  and  inter- 
national jurisprudence.  In  fact,  if  the  theory  and  history  of  law 
could  be  learnt  from  its  practice,  the  judicial  committee  of  the 
privy  council  ought  to  be  the  greatest  school  of  comparative 
jurisprudence  in  the  world.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  a  few 
lines  of  highly  technical  report  are  all  that  the  public  at  large 
ever  learns  or  perhaps  cares  to  learn  of  a  case  which  has  traveled 
from  some  remote  Indian  village  to  the  capital  of  the  British 
empire,  and  which  if  it  were  fully  unfolded  would  be  found  to 
contain  the  history  and  explain  the  meaning  of  some  of  the 
earliest  institutions  of  the  human  race.  The  existence  of  such 
a  tribunal  is  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Rome 
itself  had  no  such  empire  as  that  of  England,  nor  was  the  juris- 
prudence of  Rome  as  flexible  and  as  tolerant  of  local  variations  as 
is  that  of  modern  times.  Every  country  and  every  age,  almost, 
it  may  be  said,  every  phase  of  organized  society,  has  contributed 
its  share  to  the  splendid  mosaic  of  jurisprudence  administered  by 
the  judicial  committee  of  the  privy  council.  There  is  scarcely 
an  institution  which  has  ever  left  its  mark  on  mankind  whose 
history  would  not  be  found  to  be  involved  in  some  one  or  another 
of  the  decisions  of  that  supreme  tribunal.  It  may  seem  a  long 
way,  perhaps,  from  the  seizure  of  a  reputed  slaver  in  an  African 
port  to  comparative  view  of  legal  systems  and  a  survey  of  human 
institutions.  But  the  jurisdiction  of  the  privy  council  covers  the 
whole  distance,  for  its  judicial  functions  have  hardly  any  practical 
limit.  It  is  hardly  paradoxical  to  say  that  a  mere  enumeration  of 
the  causes  decided  by  this  tribunal  in  a  single  decade  would  fur- 
nish to  those  who  are  at  the  pains  to  understand  it  a  picture  of  the 
British  empire  as  comprehensive  and  complete  as  any  that  has  ever 
yet  been  drawn  or  imagined." 

A  glance  at  our  own  complex  system  of  state  and  national  juris- 
diction will  help  to  deepen  the  impression  as  to  the  vastness  and 
variety  of  the  intellectual  exercises  of  an  American  lawyer.  Here 
we  see  in  everv  state  this  same  svstem  of  English  common  law.  in 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  47 

force  and  vigor,  modified  by  local  circumstances  and  legislation, 
working  its  applications  in  every  part  of  the  community  and 
adapting  itself  to  every  social  change,  unfolding  and  developing 
with  every  growth  of  our  times,  giving  rise  daily  to  the  most 
novel  and  interesting  questions  of  practical  justice,  to  be  solved 
by  the  knowledge  and  skill  of  court  and  counsel.  Each  state  has 
its  own  jurisdiction,  to  which  that  of  all  others  is  foreign,  and  thus 
we  have  a  system  of  international  rights  within  our  own  national 
domain.  Many  of  them  are  coordinated  by  the  supreme  law  of 
national  authority,  and  we  have  a  system  of  jurisprudence  to 
which  the  states  themselves  are  subject.  Complementing  our  con- 
stitutional jurisprudence  with  that  which  is  based  on  strictly  in- 
ternational relations,  and  we  have  a  world-wide  system  in  which 
there  is  mingled,  with  the  common  law  of  England,  elements  from 
the  civil  law  of  France  and  Spain  as  it  prevailed  in  Florida,  the 
Louisiana  territory,  Texas,  California  and  the  Mexican  provinces, 
the  mining  customs  of  the  districts  where  gold  and  silver  are  the 
principal  products,  and  questions  ultimately,  if  not  soon,  to  arise 
out  of  the  peculiarities  of  our  relation  to  the  Indian  tribes  within 
our  borders,  we  can  not  say  any  longer  upon  our  frontiers. 

But  an  adequate  and  satisfactory  view  of  the  universal  field 
of  jurisprudence  can  be  obtained  only  by  a  complete  and  method- 
ical analysis. 

Sir  John  Fortescue,  in  the  I3th  Chapter  DC  Landibns  Legiiin 
Anglias,  says : 

"The  law  under  which  the  people  is  incorporated  may  be 
compared  to  the  nerves  or  sinews  of  the  body  natural ;  for  as  by 
these  the  whole  frame  is  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted,  so 
is  the  law  that  ligament  (to  go  back  to  the  truest  derivation  of 
the  word,  Ic.v  a  Uganda)  by  which  the  body  politic  and  all  its  sev- 
eral members  are  bound  together  and  united  in  one  entire  body. 
And  as  the  bones  and  all  the  other  members  of  the  body  preserve 
their  functions  and  discharge  their  several  offices  by  the  nerves, 
so  do  the  members  of  the  community  by  the  law.  And  as  the  head 
of  the  body  natural  can  not  change  its  nerves  or  sinews,  can  not 
deny  to  the  several  parts  their  proper  energy,  their  due  proportion 
and  aliment  of  blood,  neither  can  a  king,  who  is  the  head  of  a  body 


48  OHIO    STATE   BAR   ASSOCIATION 

politic,  change  the  laws  thereof,  nor  take  from  the  people  what  is 
theirs  by  right,  against  their  consent." 

In  the  same  vein  is  the  memorable  sentence  of  the  judicious 
Hooker,  the  eloquence  of  which  is  not  diminished  by  familiarity: 

"Of  law  there  can  be  no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  seat 
is  the  bosom  of  God,  her  voice  the  harmony  of  the  world ;  all 
things  in  heaven  and  earth  do  her  homage,  the  very  least  as 
feeling  her  care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempt  from  her  power ; 
both  angels  and  men  and  creatures  of  what  condition  soever, 
though  each  in  different  sort  and  manner,  yet  all  with  uniform 
consent,  admiring  her  as  the  mother  of  their  peace  and  joy." 

Jurisprudence  is  both  the  philosophy  and  the  science  of  law. 
Law,  as  the  subject-matter  of  jurisprudence,  is  the  body  of  rules 
regulating  the  relative  rights  and  duties  of  men  in  society,  de- 
clared and  politically  enforced  by  public  authority.  As  a  branch 
of  philosophy,  jurisprudence  is  concerned  with  the  origin  of  law, 
its  nature,  and  its  connection  with  the  other  phenomena  which 
make  up  the  universe.  As  a  science  it  classifies  into  system  the 
body  of  our  knowledge  acquired  by  a  study  of  its  actual  de- 
velopment and  history,  and  traces  the  principles  which  connect  its 
various  results.  As  philosophy,  it  teaches  the  theory  of  all  possi- 
ble law ;  as  science,  it  teaches  the  facts  and  principles  of  all  actual 
law. 

Jurisprudence,  regarded  as  a  whole,  comprises  not  only  a  study 
of  what  the  law  is  and  has  been,  but  what  it  would  be  if  the  prin- 
ciples to  be  extracted  from  it  were  correctly  worked  out.  It 
permits  us  to  test  those  principles  themselves  by  a  standard  ex- 
ternal to  them — by  our  abstract  notions  of  what  is  right  and 
reasonable,  by  our  observation  of  what  is  useful,  by  the  visible 
wants  and  tendencies  of  society.  "It  may  be  said  of  laws  that 
mankind  have  but  one  law,  though  every  nation  has  had  its  own 
system  of  laws.  For  positive  law  is  not  essentially  a  simple  col- 
lection of  isolated  rules  and  ordinances,  arbitrary  or  conventional 
in  their  nature,  but  it  is  a  system  exhibiting,  amid  all  its  variations 
in  time  and  place,  invariable  and  fixed  principles  and  relations 
which  constitute  the  foundation  or  identical  part  of  all  laws ;  that 
is  to  say,  universal  or  natural  law."  (II  Law  Mag.  and  Rev., 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  49 

Lond.  N.  S.,  548.)  "For  as  reason  and  reflection  are  natural  to 
man,  and  are  as  important  parts  of  his  nature  as  the  highest  of  its 
instincts,  so  laws  founded  on  the  right  exercise  of  that  reason 
are  natural  laws  in  the  best  and  highest  sense  of  all."  ( Duke  of 
Arjyle,  Reign  of  Law.) 

The  nature  of  man  as  a  rational  and  moral  creature  points 
out  the  ends  and  objects  of  his  existence  on  earth,  and  the  means 
furnished  by  external  nature  by  which,  in  the  exercises  of  his 
activities  in  society,  they  may  be  attained,  and  in  the  progressive 
exercise  of  these  activities  establishes  the  various  relations  which 
bind  together  and  classify  mankind  in  a  social  order.  Arising 
out  of  the  nature  of  men,  and  in  its  relations  to  the  physical  and 
moral  universe,  and  developed  in  history  in  the  progressive  cul- 
ture of  the  race,  jurisprudence  may  be  traced  and  studied  both 
deductively  and  historically.  The  conclusions  reached  by  this 
double  analysis,  and  reconciled,  constitute  the  science.  Law  and 
government  appear  as  facts  in  human  history  simultaneously. 
They  never  exist  apart,  and  from  their  nature  can  not.  it  being 
the  very  office  of  the  government  to  declare  and  enforce  the  law, 
consisting  of  those  rules  of  conduct  which  are  enforceable  and 
actually  enforced  by  that  public  authority  embodied  in  govern- 
ment. Law  and  government  are  therefore  correlates.  Each  im- 
plies the  other.  From  the  simplest  to  the  most  complex  political 
organizations — the  family,  the  tribe,  the  nation — as  society  de- 
velops historically,  law  is  always  present ;  but  in  the  logical  order 
its  idea  is  prior,  for  governments  exist  in  order  that  law  may  be 
declared  and  enforced. 

The  study  of  human  nature  gives  rise  to  the  conception  of 
a  moral  order,  the  realization  of  which  constitutes  man's  high- 
est good,  and  the  pursuits  of  which  employ  all  his  activities. 
It  constitutes  the  final  cause  of  man's  existence,  the  purpose 
and  perfection  of  his  being,  his  end  and  destiny.  \Yhatever  con- 
forms to  that  moral  order  is  right;  whatever  violates  it  is  wrong. 
Subsidiary  to  that  conception  of  universal  moral  order,  and 
forming  parts  of  it,  through  the  medium  of  which  in  combination 
it  is  to  be  realized,  are  subordinate  conceptions  of  the  human  rea- 
son, declaring  and  defining  the  relations  of  men  with  each  other 
4 


5O  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

in  society,  of  men  with  each  other  in  relation  to  external  nature, 
and  to  the  universe  of  things  material,  intellectual  and  moral. 
Illustrations  of  these  are  conceptions  of  the  family,  the  state,  of 
property,  of  contract,  etc.  To  conform  to  that  universal  moral  or- 
der— that  is,  to  do  whatever  is  right  and  avoid  whatever  is  wrong 
— the  nature  of  man  recognizes  as  his  duty,  which  at  trie  same  time 
he  is  conscious,  by  virtue  of  the  freedom  of  his  will,  that  he  may 
choose  not  to  perform,  the  exercise  of  which  in  that  way,  however, 
he  feels  to  be  a  breach  of  an  obligation.  The  conception  of  this 
moral  order  binding  him,  as  a  rational  free  agent  to  its  observance, 
is  the  idea  of  morality,  the  rules  of  which,  analyzed  and  classi- 
fied, constitute  the  science  of  ethics  ;  and  those  rules,  habitually 
practiced,  are  named  virtues ;  their  habitual  violations,  vices. 
Among  virtues  we  find  that  of  justice,  which  is  defined  to  be  the 
habitual  disposition  to  render  every  man  his  due  ;  and  those  claims, 
whatever  they  may  be,  which  belong  to  man  as  matters  of  justice, 
are  called  rights.  The  duties  resting  on  all  to  render  to  each  his 
rights  are  called  obligations,  the  violations  of  them  wrongs :  the 
relations  between  men  thus  established  are  distinguished  as  jural. 
Rights  differ  from  other  moral  claims  of  men  upon  each  other 
in  this — that  the  latter  are  duties,  depending  for  their  fulfillment 
altogether  upon  the  good  will  of  those  bound  by  them ;  the  for- 
mer carry  with  them  a  claim  to  be  enforced  by  physical  compul- 
sion. But  as  the  mind  of  man  is  not  the  subject  of  physical  force, 
the  rights  which  are  susceptible  of  being  enforced  must  be  such 
only  as  constitute  claims  upon  the  external  conduct  or  overt  acts 
of  others ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  moral  qualities 
of  these  it  often  becomes  necessary  to  investigate  the  mental 
condition  of  the  agent  at  the  time  of  their  commission,  as  in  ques- 
tions of  motive,  intention,  negligence,  sanity,  intoxication,  nonage, 
etc.  And  the  physical  force  required  for  their  enforcement  is 
furnished  by  the  public  authority,  representing  the  rational  will 
of  the  community  in  the  administration  of  law.  That  public  au- 
thority, organized  in  every  separate,  independent  community 
constituting  a  state  or  nation,  is  its  political  and  civil  government; 
and  to  it  is  referred  the  determination,  from  time  to  time  in  each 
successive  stage  of  its  history,  of  the  question,  \vhat  are  the  just 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  51 

and  natural  moral  claims  of  each  member  of  society  upon  all, 
which  it  will  enforce  as  legal  rights  ?  And  its  declarations  to  that 
effect  are  the  positive  laws  of  that  state.  The  supreme  public 
authority  inherent  in  every  independent  state  or  nation,  whereby 
it  organizes  its  political  and  civil  government,  is  called  sover- 
eignty, and  the  mode  in  which  the  government  exercises  the 
powers  of  sovereignty  is  its  constitution.  There  are  no  legal 
limits  to  sovereign  power,  for  it  declares  what  the  law  is ;  it  is 
bound  only  by  moral  restraints ;  but  the  constitution  of  a  state 
may  impose  legal  limitations  upon  the  government,  and  this  gives 
rise  to  public  or  constitutional  law. 

There  is,  however,  a  supreme  law  which  binds  and  restrains 
the  sovereignty  of  individual  states.  It  is  the  law  of  nations,  or 
international  law.  It  consists  of  a  body  of  rules  regulating  the 
relative  rights  and  duties  of  independent  nations  in  that  mutual 
intercourse  demanded  by  the  progressive  advancement  of  human 
society.  It  is  the  application  of  the  right  reason  and  cultivated 
conscience  of  mankind  to  the  relations  of  men  organized  into 
separate  and  independent  communities  and  as  subjects  of  distinct 
sovereignties.  It  is  developed  by  diplomatic  discussions  and  state 
papers;  by  the  decisions  of  judicial  tribunals  in  private  contro- 
versies, where  the  litigants  have  no  common  municipal  superior ; 
by  the  treatises  of  philosophical  jurists,  and  is  embodied  in  a  tra- 
ditionary code  of  international  usage  and  the  modifying  legislation 
of  treaties  and  conventions.  It  is  not,  as  has  sometimes  been  said, 
without  a  sanction ;  for,  although  sovereign  nations  recognize  no 
common  superior  with  power  to  prescribe  the  rules  of  their  con- 
duct, nevertheless,  each  sovereign  is  a  public  authority,  which  by 
resort  to  the  ultima  ratio  of  just  war,  is  entitled,  according  to  the 
public  opinion  of  the  civilized  world,  to  enforce  the  commands 
of  the  international  law,  any  breach  of  which,  though  directly 
injurious  to  but  one,  is  also  an  offense  against  the  rights  and 
peace  of  all. 

Every  individual  member  of  human  society  is  under  a  moral 
necessity — that  is,  owes  the  duty  by  the  rational  exercise  of  his 
will — to  conform  to  the  universal  moral  order  by  the  habitual 
observance  of  all  the  rules  of  morality  and  practice  of  those  vir- 


52  OHIO    STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

tues  which  constitute  the  ideal  excellence  of  life  and  character, 
and  is,  therefore,  not  only  entitled,  but  required  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  his  nature  to  employ  the  means  necessary  to  enable  him 
to  perform  that  duty.  The  means  to  this  end  are  furnished  by  the 
organization  of  mankind  in  society,  and  the  material  for  its  de- 
velopment provided  by  the  material  universe  with  which  he  is 
placed  in  contact  or  connection.  But  both  duties — to  attain  the  end 
and  use  the  means — rest  equally  on  all,  and  the  liberty  of  each 
man's  will  in  the  pursuit  of  his  highest  good  is  limited  by  the 
proper  exercise  of  the  wills  of  all  others.  The  harmony  of  this  co- 
existence is  the  establishment  of  civil  and  social  order,  which  is 
the  sphere  and  scope  of  human  freedom,  personal,  civil  and  polit- 
ical, being  liberty  regulated  by  law,  the  principle  of  which  is 
equality  in  right. 

The  perfection  of  civil  order,  it  is  manifest,  therefore,  con- 
sists in  the  largest  liberty  of  individual  action  compatible  with 
equal  liberty  to  all  others — that  is,  compatible  with  the  general 
good,  and  the  question  requiring  solution  in  every  case  as  it  arises 
or  is  foreseen  is,  to  what  extent  is  public  authority  justified  in 
imposing  physical  -  restraint  upon,  or  applying  physical  coercion 
to  individual  action?  It  has  been  found  hitherto  impossible  to 
announce  any  principle  which  will  theoretically  answer  that  ques- 
tion for  all  cases.  There  has  been  found,  indeed,  as  yet  no  com- 
mon agreement  as  to  the  true  principle  on  which  the  public  au- 
thority intervenes  forcibly  at  all.  Some  ground  it  on  the  principle 
of  self-defense,  some  on  the  preservation  of  the  status  quo,  some 
on  the  abstract  nature  and  quality  of  rights  as  enforceable,  some 
on  the  application  of  the  maxim,  "Do  as  you  would  be  done  by," 
others  by  the  principle  that  one  may  prevent  what  will  make 
his  physical  condition  less  comfortable  than  it  is  by  nature ;  but 
the  opinion  most  generally  received  is,  that  the  proper  limit  of  the 
law,  as  the  applied  or  threatened  public  force,  is  in  every  case  a 
question  to  be  determined  by  the  cultivated  reason  and  enlightened 
conscience  of  mankind,  testing  and  correcting  their  conclusions 
by  progressive  experience  as  it  advances  in  civilization,  resorting 
to  expediency  and  utility,  not  as  the  standard  and  measure  of 
truth,  but  as  its  evidence  and  confirmation,  seeking  the  perfection 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  53 

of  man  in  the  historical  realization  in  human  society  of  ideal 
justice. 

Consequently  every  system  of  civilized  jurisprudence  will  be 
found  to  contain  two  elements — one  deduced  by  the  public  rea- 
son from  the  general  principles  of  natural  justice,  the  other  dog- 
matically fixed  by  recognized  custom  or  by  express  legislation 
and  affected  by  the  peculiarities  of  national  character,  history  and 
situation.  '  The  latter  is  arbitrary,  accidental  and  positive ;  the 
former  is  its  rational  element  and  unchangeable  foundation.  "It 
would  be  hard,"  says  Burke,  "to  point  out  any  error  more  truly 
subversive  of  all  the  order  and  beauty,  of  all  the  peace  and  happi- 
ness of  human  society  than  the  position  that  any  body  of  men 
have  a  right  to  make  what  laws  they  please  or  that  laws  can  derive 
any  authority  whatever  from  their  institution  merely,  and  inde- 
pendent of  the  quality  of  their  subject-matter.  All  human  laws 
are,  properly  speaking,  only  declaratory.  They  may  alter  the 
mode  and  application,  but  have  no  power  over  the  substance  of 
original  justice." 

Jurisprudence,  then,  is  distinguished  from  ethics  as  a  part  is 
from  the  whole,  being  one  of  the  branches  of  that  larger  and  more 
comprehensive  department  of  human  knowledge.  On  the  other 
hand,  its  own  province  includes:  i.  Natural  law,  or  that  theory 
of  human  relations,  and  the  rights  and  obligations  implied  in 
them,  deducible  from  the  nature  of  man  and  the  things  around 
him,  and  of  which  his  social  and  individual  advancement  require 
the  enforcement,  if  necessary,  by  physical  power.  2.  Interna- 
tional law,  or  that  body  of  rules  deducible  from  the  relations  of 
men,  organized  into  separate  and  independent  communities  and 
which  are  applied  (  I )  to  regulate  the  intercourse  of  sovereign 
states,  and  of  which  the  ultimate  sanction  is  just  war;  (2)  to  de- 
termine the  rights  and  obligations  arising  between  individuals 
considered  as  subjects  of  separate  sovereign  jurisdictions  by  ju- 
dicial tribunals  acting  and  deciding  on  private  controversies.  The 
former  is  called  public  international  law.  the  latter  private  inter- 
national law.  3.  Public  or  constitutional  law.  or  that  body  of 
customary  or  enacted  rules  which  form  the  frame  of  political 
government  or  constitution  of  the  state,  prescribing  the  divisions 


54  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

of  political  power,  the  functions  of  public  authorities  and  the  rela- 
tive rights  and  duties  of  the  national  government  and  the  subjects 
of  its  jurisdiction.  4.  [Municipal  law,  or  the  domestic  law  of 
particular  states,  prescribing  the  relative  rights  and  obligations  of 
all  persons  subject  to  its  jurisdiction  as  members  of  that  separate 
community.  Examples  of  this  are  found  in  the  Roman  law,  con- 
spicuously called  the  civil  law,  which  forms  the  base  of  the  civil 
rights  and  duties  of  a  large  number  of  the  modern  states,  in  which 
it  has  been  preserved  since  the  days  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  empire ;  and  the  common  law  of  England,  which  consists 
chiefly  of  a  body  of  principles  applied  in  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  the  English-speaking  people,  embodied  in  traditional 
customs,  deduced  by  judicial  practice  and  decision  by  the  applica- 
tion of  reason  to  the  varied  and  multiplying  relations  of  men  and 
things  in  communities  remarkable  for  vigorous  and  continuous 
growth,  and  from  time  to  time  supplemented  by  express  legisla- 
tion. The  canon  law  also  constitutes  part  of  the  municipal  law 
of  those  states  where  it  is  or  has  been  organized,  being  originally 
a  body  of  rules  established  by  the  ecclesiastical  authority  of  the 
Christian  church,  acting  with  civil  power  over  certain  matters 
claimed  by  it  to  be,  by  reason  of  their  spiritual  nature,  exclusively 
within  that  jurisdiction;  but  since,  in  accordance  with  more  en- 
lightened views  as  to  the  true  division  of  the  civil  and  spiritual 
authority,  adopted  by  the  civil  power  of  the  state  as  part  of  the 
body  of  its  municipal  law.  Under  the  head  of  municipal  law  is  to 
be  found  the  whole  body  of  authoritative  rules  regulating  the  per- 
sonal status  of  the  individual  members  of  the  state,  and  the  rela- 
tions annexed  to  and  growing  out  of  it,  with  the  corresponding 
rights  and  obligations,  such  as  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child, 
etc. ;  also  the  relations  of  men  to  one  another,  as  constituted  by 
contract,  property,  and  all  those  civil  relations  which  are  based  on 
their  mutual  intercourse.  A  large  part  of  ever}-  such  system  be- 
comes law  by  the  unconscious  operation  of  social  instincts,  growing 
into  habitual  observances,  thus  forming  what  is  known  as  custom- 
ary law,  which  became  scientifically  developed  by  a  long  series  of 
judicial  decisions,  making  new  applications  of  recognized  princi- 
ples, discovering  new  principles  by  the  analogy  of  reason,  and 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  55 

supplied,  as  necessity  or  convenience  requires,  by  the  aid  of  ex- 
press legislation.  When  the  mass  and  body  of  municipal  law, 
thus  built  up,  has  grown  enormous,  confused  and  unwieldy,  a 
comprehensive  legislation  reduces  it  to  the  written  form  of  a 
code,  such  as  those  of  Justinian  and  Napoleon,  on  which,  as  on  a 
new  foundation,  the  work  of  development  begins  again. 

In  presenting  the  analysis  of  the  general  subject  of  jurispru- 
dence, with  a  view  and  survey  of  its  different  departments,  ab- 
stract and  metaphysical  as  it  may  appear,  I  have  not  been 
unmindful  of  the  entirely  practical  nature  of  the  objects  and 
purposes  we  are  now  contemplating.  As  I  regard  them,  they 
may  be  summed  up  to  be  the  improvement  of  the  law  as  a  prac- 
tical system  of  administration,  and  the  improvement  of  ourselves 
and  our  successors  in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  it. 

The  attainment  of  the  objects  require  the  adoption  of  certain 
definite  and  practical  measures — improvements  in  legislation,  in 
judicial  procedure,  in  the  constitution  of  the  courts,  in  the  tenure 
of  the  judicial  office,  possibly  in  the  mode  of  appointment  and  the 
scale  of  compensation  for  judicial  service,  in  the  transaction  of 
judicial  business,  and  the  suppression  of  frivolous  litigation  and 
the  speeding  of  judgment  in  that  which  is  important  and  neces- 
sary. These  and  other  equally  important  matters  of  detail  will 
undoubtedly,  each  in  its  turn,  claim  and  receive  its  due  share  of 
attention. 

But  there  are  considerations  more  vital  and  fundamental,  which 
affect  the  entire  question,  and  form  the  basis  for  the  whole  move- 
ment. 

In  my  view  the  first  of  these  is  that  its  success  can  only  be 
founded  on  the  support  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion.  The 
judges  and  the  lawyers  can  by  themselves  do  but  little  to  influence 
and  inform  that.  And  in  order  to  do  that  successfully,  the  peo- 
ple, whose  sympathy,  support  and  approval  we  must  have,  must 
have  intelligent  judgments  on  the  subject.  They  must  learn  the 
character  of  the  system  they  are  asked  to  support ;  they  must  be 
convinced  that  .the  business  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  that  of 
doing  justice  between  men ;  that  it  is  the  chief  business  of  society, 
and  the  most  important,  if  not  the  sole  function  of  government, 


56  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

and  one  in  which  each  individual  has  the  most  immediate  and 
direct  personal  interest.  To  do  this  we  must  show  that  the  law  is 
not  arbitrary,  artificial,  and  technical,  lending  itself  as  often  to 
wrong  and  violence  and  fraud  as  defending  the  weakness  of  the 
right ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  highest  reason,  the  most 
enlightened  moral  sense,  the  wisest  justice,  the  indispensable  com- 
fort and  solace  for  all  oppression  and  wrong.  This  can  best  be 
done  by  exhibiting  it  in  its  essential  principles,  illustrated  by  the 
judicial  history  of  its  development  and  expansion,  and  in  the  com- 
mon and  usual,  as  well  as  extraordinary  and  signal,  examples  of 
its  application  in  the  daily  life  of  men.  And  this  work  can  be 
further  advanced  by  the  improvement  in  excellence  of  the  profes- 
sional conduct  and  character  of  those  who  administer  it,  both  as 
judges  and  as  lawyers.  Nothing  will  tend  so  strongly  to  elevate 
the  standard  of  that  character  as  thorough  knowledge  and  train- 
ing in  the  primal  principles  of  jurisprudence.  No  man,  in  my 
judgment,  can  be  considered  as  a  model  lawyer,  who  does  not 
habitually  seek  the  solution  of  legal  difficulties  by  a  careful  and 
thorough  application  to  the  circumstances  and  relations  of  men 
of  the  rules  and  principles  of  natural  justice  and  immutable 
morality.  And  they  can  usually  be  solved  with  most  success  by 
an  original  study  and  analysis  of  the  case,  in  the  light  of  these 
principles.  The  study  of  decided  cases  and  of  systematic  treatises 
is  valuable  as  a  guide  to  the  knowledge  of  these  principles,  of  the 
best  methods  of  investigating  and  applying  them,  and  particularly 
in  training  and  disciplining  the  mind  of  the  student  and  practi- 
tioner in  the  practical  knowledge  of  the  modes  by  which  they 
limit  each  other,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  the  foundation  of  all 
sound  judgment,  safe  advice,  and  wise  and  just  determination. 
But  a  memory  of  instances,  no  matter  how  full,  retentive,  and 
obedient,  and  a  fancy  for  illustration  and  analogy,  no  matter  how 
rich  and  brilliant,  can  never  supply  to  the  judge  or  advocate  that 
safe  and  sure  guide  to  truth  and  justice,  which  is  furnished  by  a 
luminous  apprehension  of  the  relations  between  the  parties  to  a 
transaction  and  the  obligations  which  natural  and  right  reason 
deduces  for  them,  for  on  these  rest  the  \vhole  fabric  of  the  law. 
Of  course  there  are,  alwavs  have  been,  and  will  long:  continue 


ADDRESS    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS  57 

to  be,  many  miscarriages  of  justice,  just  as  there  are  many  disap- 
pointments in  nature  and  in  life.  But  the  direction  and  tendency 
are  right,  and  the  approximation  is  steady  and  constant. 

Our  purpose  to-day  is  to  pledge  our  mutual  cooperation  in 
the  search  for  and  perfection  of  ideal  justice,  vindicated  among 
men  by  the  establishment  and  practice  of  righteousness  in  human 
relations  and  transactions,  and  illustrated  in  the  sincerity,  unself- 
ishness and  probity  of  those  who  are  called  to  share  in  its  admin- 
istration. 


REMARKS  OF  R.  P.  RANNEY. 

MR.  PRESIDENT — I  desire  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  resolu- 
tion of  Judge  Lawrence  and  this  substitute.  I  do  not  desire,  gen- 
tlemen, to  make  any  remarks  upon  these  proposed  resolutions 
with  a  view  to  urging  the  association  to  any  immediate  action 
upon  the  subject.  I  quite  concur  in  the  policy  of  referring  the 
matter  to  the  committee,  as  has  been  suggested,  with  a  view  to 
report  from  that  committee  after  very  mature  consideration  of 
the  subject.  That  committee,  however,  and  the  association  after- 
ward, when  called  upon  to  act  upon  any  project  which  they  may 
bring  forward,  should  do  so  with  a  full  understanding  of  the 
bearings  of  the  question  in  all  its  parts,  and  with  a  full  under- 
standing of  the  wishes  of  the  bar  of  the  state,  for  upon  unanimity 
in  the  bar  of  the  state  will  depend  the  success  of  any  reform  that 
is  proposed. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  in  this,  as  in  all  other  matters,  we  ought 
to  be  well  assured  that  a  grievance  exists  before  we  go  to  talking 
about  reforming  it.  The  matter  has  been  alluded  to  so  by  differ- 
ent members  of  the  association  that  I  shall  take  no  time  in  estab- 
lishing the  fact  that  our  judicial  system  is  working  very  badly,  in 
the  matter  of  producing  unendurable  delays  in  the  administration 
of  justice.  I  think  every  member  of  the  bar  knows  that,  and  if 
the  community  do  not  know  it  as  well  as  they  should,  it  is  cer- 
tainly because  the  facts  have  not  been  brought  to  their  attention. 

I  do  not  concur  with  Judge  Lawrence  in  supposing  that  when 
the  people  of  the  state  are  advised  of  the  actual  situation  of 
affairs,  and  of  the  character  of  the  abuse,  as  I  look  upon  it,  they 
will  refuse  or  be  reluctant  to  adopt  anything  that  remedies  the 
evil  and  places  the  administration  of  justice  in  Ohio  upon  a  solid 
and  satisfactory  footing.  I  have  not  any  such  opinion  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  state,  from  all  I  have  learned  of  them  or  know  about 
them  in  the  long  time  that  I  have  been  acquainted  with  very  many 
of  them.  But  it  will  be  found  to  be  entirely  indispensable  that 


REMARKS    OF    R.    P.    RAXXKV  59 

the  members  of  the  bar,  who  call  for  an  amendment  of  the  con- 
stitution, or  who  call  for  legislation  that  shall  increase  the  judicial 
force,  or  materially  change  the  present  arrangements,  shall  be 
able  to  give,  not  alone  to  the  members  of  the  bar.  but  to  the  people 
of  the  state,  to  the  judges  on  the  bench,  and  to  everybody  inter- 
ested in  the  administration  of  justice,  very  good  and  solid  reasons 
why  they  should  act. 

Now,  what  is  the  abuse?  Our  judicial  system,  as  at  present 
working,  without  imputing  any  fault  to  anybody  connected  with 
it,  is  certainly  productive  of  such  delays  as  are  a  flat  violation 
of  the  pledge  of  the  state  to  the  people,  that  justice  shall  be  ad- 
ministered without  delay.  Indeed,  the  delays  are  so  great  that 
in  very  many  instances  they  work  a  total  denial  of  justice,  or 
render  unimportant  to  the  parties  who  are  originally  deeply  in- 
terested in  controversies,  the  results  after  a  lapse  of  years. 

And  now,  how  much  time  does  it  take  really — because  we  may 
talk  loosely  about  this  subject — how  much  time  does  it  take  really. 
when  you  exercise  your  utmost  diligence,  to  have  it  determined 
in  the  state  of  Ohio  whether  a  man  has  rights  or  not — whether 
they  are  to  be  accorded  to  him  or  refused  him  ?  How  much  time 
does  it  really  take?  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  record  with  which  I 
have  been  concerned  myself — a  case  originating  in  this  county. 
which  was  commenced  in  the  superior  court  of  this  city  in 
November,  18/3.  ^  concerned  a  tract  of  land  in  which  widows 
and  children  were  alone  interested ;  and  it  remained  suspended 
from  that  time  down  to  a  week  or  two  ago.  when  it  came  to  a 
final  decision  in  the  supreme  court — between  six  and  seven  years. 
You  may  think  that  some  of  us  were  negligent  and  inefficient  in 
carrying  the  case  forward  and  obtaining  the  judgment  of  the  sev- 
eral courts  into  which  it  had  gone.  Any  such  supposition  would 
be  very  far  from  the  fact.  In  the  first  place,  the  case  stood  upon 
a  demurrer ;  no  delay  on  account  of  witnesses  or  sickness  of  par- 
ties or  anything  of  the  kind.  In  the  next  place,  I  represented 
widows  and  children  who  were  dependent  upon  the  very  property 
in  litigation  for  their  daily  bread,  or  rather  the  necessity  of  con- 
verting it  into  something  to  furnish  their  daily  bread,  and  they 
have  not  omitted  to  inform  me.  rather  oftener  than  has  been 


60  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

agreeable,  that  the  case  ought  to  be  decided,  and  to  urge  me  by 
every  means  in  my  power  to  put  it  forward.  I  have  done  so.  I 
have  followed  it  straight  along  as  fast  as  the  wheels  of  the  judicial 
machinery  would  permit  me  to  do,  and  finally  it  came  to  a  deci- 
sion in  the  supreme  court — not  complaining  of  the  decision  here 
— and  was  reversed.  The  property  was  taken  away  from  my 
clients  so  far  as  the  decision  has  gone.  The  case  now  comes  back. 
Well,  I  shall  struggle  for  other  defenses.  I  shall  not  give  it  up 
if  I  can  help  it.  The  result  is  that  now  it  starts  back  anew  on  its 
travels,  and  with  the  present  prospects  before  one,  it  can  not  be 
expected  that  any  less  time  will  be  embraced  than  before ;  and  if 
it  shall  take  another  seven  years  to  run  the  rounds  to  have  it 
determined  whether  these  widows  and  children  own  this  land  or 
whether  the  claimants  of  it  are  entitled  to  it,  I  beg  you  to  reflect 
about  how  much  use  will  it  be  to  the  widows  and  children  or  to 
anybody  else  by  the  time  we  get  to  a  final  decision  of  the  contro- 
versy. 

It  is  said  often  that  those  people  who  go  to  law  may  very  well 
wait  long :  that  honest  people  are  at  work  on  their  farms  or  else- 
where, and  that,  therefore,  the  litigants  have  no  great  claim  on 
the  public  for  going  to  increased  expense  to  expedite  the  decision 
of  their  cases.  I  would  like  to  know  who  it  is  that  knows  whether 
he  is  going  to  be  a  litigant  or  not.  What  man,  woman,  or  chiM 
that  has  anything  in  the  world  can  tell  how  soon  his  right  to 
retain  it  may  be  challenged  in  the  courts  of  justice?  It  is  one  of 
the  most  absurd  of  all  replies  in  the  world  to  make,  for  a  default 
in  affording  a  proper  administration  of  justice,  to  say  that  the 
persons  who  are  drawn  into  the  courts  are  not  so  meritorious  but 
that  they  can  well  wait  and  let  other  people  make  money  while 
they  suffer. 

Now,  gentlemen,  what  is  the  remedy  for  this  evil?  You  will 
observe  that  our  judicial  system  is  not  now  what  it  was  made. 
I  mean  by  that,  not  in  practice  what  it  was  made.  The  framers 
of  the  system  created  an  intermediate  appellate  court  called  the 
district  court,  but  they  never  contemplated  that  that  court  was 
going  to  be  held  exclusively  by  the  very  men  who  decided  the 
cases  in  the  first  instance — that  they  were  going  to  turn  reviewers 


REMARKS    OF    R.    P.    RAXXEY  ()I 

of  themselves.  It  was  an  essential  feature  of  their  system,  without 
which  it  never  could  have  passed  through  the  convention,  that 
the  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  with  his  knowledge  and  weight 
of  character  should  forever  preside  in  that  appellate  court.  \Yhat 
have  we  realized  for  years  past  in  practice?  That  court  is  held 
by  the  judges  that  decide  in  the  first  instance,  the  common  pleas 
judges — doing  as  well  as  they  can,  I  admit,  but  in  no  wise  meeting 
the  public  expectation  of  an  appellate  court  to  put  an  end  to  con- 
troversies. The  consequence  is  that  cases  finding  their  way  int^ 
that  court  go  there  simply  as  a  stopping-place — a  necessary  resting- 
place — to  be  crowded  into  the  supreme  court ;  and  the  consequence 
is  that  all  the  important  litigation  of  the  state  finds  its  way  right 
through  this  first  appellate  court  into  the  supreme  court.  \Yhat  is 
the  consequence  then?  A  docket  lying  by  of  700  or  800  cases 
undecided,  the  last  of  which  there  is  no  hope  can  ever  be  reached 
and  finally  determined,  short  of  six  or  seven  years  from  this  time. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  had  occasion  to  reflect  upon  this  subject 
some  time  ago — five  years  ago — when  the  proposition  was  made 
in  the  legislature  for  some  step  to  be  taken  for  the  mitigation  of 
the  great  evils  arising  from  these  delays  in  justice.  I  then,  at 
the  instance  of  some  gentlemen,  committed  to  writing  my  own 
views  upon  the  subject,  and  one  branch  of  the  legislature  did  me 
the  honor  at  the  time  to  print  them.  I  have  looked  it  over  again, 
and  after  five  years  I  see  no  reason  to  take  back  a  single  thought 
I  then  had ;  but  during  this  long  interval  of  time  everything  that 
has  transpired  has  simply  impressed  upon  me  more  forcibly  the 
overwhelming  importance  of  remedying  this  trouble :  and  I  have 
seen  no  better  way  myself  than  that  which  I  then  sketched,  and  it, 
I  verily  believe,  the  people  of  the  state,  if  they  had  the  oppor- 
tunity, would  adopt  as  the  proper  corrective. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  need  of  going  to  the  people  of 
the  state  with  any  proposition  greatly  to  increase  the  number  of 
office-holders ;  for,  while  those  in  office  are  certainly  an  exceed- 
ingly meritorious  class,  without  which  we  could  hardly  get  along, 
still  the  people  are  not  hankering  after  too  much  of  a  good  thing. 
They  do  not  want  any  more  than  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
public  purposes  for  which  all  offices  are  created,  and  hence  any 


62  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

proposal  to  the  people  of  the  state  greatly  to  increase  the  number 
of  judges  in  the  judicial  establishment  will  assuredly  meet  with 
a  failure. 

Again,  the  people  of  the  state  are  an  economical  people,  as 
everybody  knows.  They  do  not  propose  to  take  more  money 
from  their  pockets  to  distribute  to  gentlemen  in  place  than  is 
necessary  to  accomplish  their  objects,  and  any  great  additional 
expense  in  the  operation  of  the  judicial  system  will  most  assuredly 
meet  with  disfavor  when  any  proposition  to  adopt  reform  is  sent 
to  the  people. 

Keeping  these  things  in  mind  all  the  time,  and  avoiding  the 
troubles  that  I  foresee  would  come  of  a  more  extended  establish- 
ment, it  occurs  to  me  that  just  one  simple,  radical  amendment  of 
the  constitution  is  all  that  is  required  to  set  the  judiciary  of  Ohio 
upon  a  footing  equal  to  that  of  her  sister  states,  when  an  assur- 
ance will  be  given,  and  carried  out,  too,  that  justice  shall  be  admin- 
istered as  speedily  here  as  elsewhere  :  because  it  is  a  matter  of  fact, 
as  has  been  stated,  that  we  are  probably  more  defective  in  this 
particular  than  any  state  in  the  Union — certainly  more  so  than 
an}-  state  with  which  I  have  any  acquaintance. 

We  undertook  the  job  in  this  state  of  creating  too  many  courts, 
of  requiring  the  process  to  be  too  long  to  go  from  one  end  to  the 
other  of  the  judicial  system.  What  is  wanted  in  this  state  is 
that  which  is  adopted  in  every  other  state  that  I  know  of  in  the 
Union,  and  which  is  an  inherent  quality  of  every  judicial  system — 
that  there  shall  be  competent  judges  to  decide  cases  in  the  first 
instance  between  parties,  and  other  competent  judges  simply  to 
determine  whether  the  cases  have  been  rightly  decided  or  not. 
When  you  get  more  than  that,  when  you  crowd  into  any  system 
more  than  that,  you  have  got  more  than  the  demands  of  justice 
require ;  and  every  addition  you  make  to  the  simplicity  of  such  a 
system  is  a  clog  upon  progress  in  getting  through  the  courts. 

I  would,  therefore,  gentlemen,  simply  suggest  this  now  to  be 
thought  of — because  I  am  in  favor  of  referring  this  resolution, 
as  has  been  proposed.  I  simply  ask  the  members  of  this  associa- 
tion, the  bar  of  the  state  generally,  and  every  intelligent  man  in 
the  state — every  legislator  particularly,  upon  whom  is  devolved 


REMARKS    OF    R.    P.    RAXXEY  63 

great  responsibility  as  to  how  he  will  discharge  this  public  trust 
to  the  people  of  the  state — I  say,  I  simply  suggest  to  them  whether 
or  not  striking  the  district  court  right  out  of  your  system  and 
simply  providing  for  a  supreme  court  with  judges  enough  to  do 
the  appellate  business  on  the  circuits  and  in  bane  is  not  all  that 
the  people  of  this  state  want.  We  have  tried  it  for  more  than  half 
a  century  of  our  existence.  It  became  too  small,  it  was  true.  We 
could  have  but  four  judges  and  but  two  of  them  could  sit  at  a 
time ;  and  still,  without  counting  myself  as  old  as  Methuselah.  I 
have  administered  that  system  myself  upon  the  bench,  as  well  as 
practiced  under  it  for  a  number  of  years.  I  believe  now  that  with 
a  simple  enlargement  of  that  system,  without  putting  myself  up, 
now,  as  having  any  superior  wisdom  to  the  smallest  man  in  the 
profession — I  chanced  to  be  in  the  constitutional  convention  that 
adopted  the  system  as  it  is  now,  and  I  then  said,  what  I  repeat 
at  this  distant  time,  that  a  simple  enlargement  of  the  old  system 
prior  to  1851,  by  adding  to  the  force  of  the  supreme  court,  was  all 
that  was  required  for  a  speedy  and  correct  administration  of  jus- 
tice in  Ohio.  I  believe,  as  I  have  said,  that  an  addition  to  the 
supreme  court  of  four  judges  for  the  present,  raising  the  number 
to  nine,  with  capacity  to  make  more  if  it  shall  be  found  necessary, 
will  enable  the  judges  of  that  court  in  their  own  way  (for  I 
would  not  fetter  them  at  all — all  I  would  require  of  them  would 
be  that  they  do  the  business  in  their  own  way)  each  year  to  settle 
their  books.  All  I  wrould  require  of  them  would  be  that  upon  the 
circuit  two  of  them  sitting  together — the  Yankees  say  that  two 
heads  are  better  than  one,  and  two  judicial  heads,  according  to 
my  experience,  are  indispensable  to  make  it  sure  you  are  always 
right — two  judges  sitting  together  will  be  able  in  the  place  of  the 
district  court  to  go  through  all  the  counties  of  this  state ;  and 
when  I  say  all,  I  do  not  mean  all,  because  there  are  plenty  of  coun- 
ties in  this  state  in  which  a  single  case  or  two  may  originate  that 
had  better  travel  to  some  adjoining  county  or  to  some  common 
center  than  to  send  judges  and  lawyers  there  to  hear  it.  So  I 
am  not  too  radical  on  that  subject,  but  approaching  the  people 
and  the  bar  as  near  as  you  can  with  two  judges  of  the  supreme 
court,  elected  through  the  state,  and  with  a  little  longer  rope,  in 


64  OHIO   STATE    BAR   ASSOCIATION 

my  judgment,  than  is  given  to  the  present  judges.  I  mean  by 
that,  a  longer  term.  I  mean,  again,  that  they  shall  be  selected, 
because  they  are  the  principal  characters  to  whom  the  people  are 
directed,  and  not  that  they  shall  be  put  onto  the  tail  of  somebody's 
political  ticket,  and  never  heard  of  from  one  end  to  the  other  of 
a  campaign.  I  say  judges  selected  in  that  manner,  either  by  a  sep- 
arate election  or  using  the  spring  elections  for  the  purpose,  with 
a  reasonable  tenure  of  office,  such  a  one  as  will  divide  the  nine, 
say,  into  three  parts,  and  elected  instead  of  annually,  three  judges 
once  in  three  years,  making  the  term  nine  years,  then  pay  them 
as  you  would  other  laborers  who  work  for  you,  and  set  those 
judges  to  work  with  a  clean  sheet,  and  just  require  them  to  do 
appellate  justice  to  the  people  of  this  state  on  the  circuit,  and  in 
bane  in  respect  to  such  matters  as  they  shall  see  fit  to  reserve 
there,  or  shall  see  fit  to  permit  to  come  there,  and  I  am  just  as 
sure  as  I  am  that  I  am  living  that  there  will  be  no  piling  up  of 
cases  in  your  appellate  courts,  and  that  the  system  will  work  en- 
tirely satisfactory  to  the  bar  and  the  people. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  "What  do  you  propose  to  do  with  the 
seven  or  eight  hundred  cases  that  are  there?"  They  are  like  the 
old  man  of  the  sea,  it  is  true.  I  do  not  propose,  in  the  first  place, 
to  put  them  on  the  backs  of  any  new  animals  to  be  carried.  I  pro- 
pose that  my  friends  of  the  supreme  court — those  who  see  fit  to 
stay  there — because  it  is  all  open  into  the  new  apartments — and 
if  none  of  them  see  fit  to  stay,  then  those  that  the  governor  shall 
place  there,  shall  go  to  work  at  that  pile,  vigorously — not  stopping 
either  to  write  books  or  to  make  treatises — spending  none  of  their 
time  at  that,  but  just  going  to  work  at  that  holy  and  great  and 
mighty  duty,  the  greatest  that  can  be  devolved  upon  man.  of  de- 
termining what  is  justice  to  the  parties  who  are  before  them. 

With  that,  this  accumulated  business  can  soon  be  worked  off — 
decided — ended — and  then,  with  the  determination  of  the  people 
of  the  state  and  the  bar  of  the  state,  and  the  ambition  of  a  new  set 
of  judges  to  take  hold  of  the  current  business,  as  I  say,  I  believe 
it  may  all  be  safely,  surely  kept  at  as  it  shall  rise,  and  be  speedily 
determined  in  the  sense  of  the  constitution  upon  that  subject. 

Xow,  I  desire  to  say  simply  so  much,  that  people  may  think 


REMARKS    OF    R.    P.    RANXEV  65 

upon  it.  I  may  be  all  wrong  about  it.  Whether  this  can  be  done 
by  legislation,  without  amendment  of  the  constitution,  I  am  not 
here  now  to  say ;  but  let  it  be  the  legislature  or  let  it  be  the  people 
of  the  state ;  I  am  not  a  particle  afraid  that  either,  seeing  the 
evil  and  the  extent  of  it,  and  the  disgrace  it  brings  to  the  state  in 
the  administration  of  justice,  would  refuse  to  adopt  the  needed 
reform  in  this  particular. 

But,  whether  we  obtain  any  changes  in  this  particular  or  not, 
permit  me  again  to  simply  state  the  fact,  and  let  people  think  of  it. 
Our  course  of  practice  now  is  wonderfully  productive  of  these 
great  delays  and  expenses  that  attend  the  administration  of  justice 
in  Ohio.  There  is  one  thing  that  is  out  of  joint  with  the  whole 
system,  not  in  harmony  with  anything  connected  with  it,  that  we 
still  continue.  A  man  tries  his  case  in  the  common  pleas ;  his  wit- 
nesses are  heard  there ;  let  it  be  equity  or  law,  or  whatever  it  may 
be,  the  trial,  whether  by  a  jury  or  by  the  court,  determines  what 
his  rights  are,  finds  what  the  facts  are,  and  what  is  the  truth  in 
regard  to  his  matter.  Now,  what  does  he  do  if  it  happens  to  be 
that  he  demands  money,  so  that  it  is  called  "at  law?"  He  must 
stop  there,  without  any  pawing  over  of  the  facts,  except  as  he 
takes  them  to  the  district  court  on  paper.  But,  if  it  happens  to 
be  a  case  where  specific  relief  is  demanded,  under  the  head  of 
"equity  jurisdiction,"  you  allow  him  to  nullify  the  judgment  of 
a  court  that  has  heard  his  witnesses  and  heard  him  all  through, 
by  his  simply  putting  in  a  bill  and  taking  his  case  to  the  district 
court,  where  again  these  hordes  of  witnesses  must  appear  and  be 
examined  at  interminable  length,  three-quarters  of  the  time  of 
every  session  of  the  district  court  consumed  in  hearing  them,  and 
a  large  percentage  of  perjury  manufactured  in  the  meantime,  and 
you  call  that  doing  justice.  The  law  man  has  had  to  stop.  What- 
ever he  failed  to  get  on  paper  is  lost  to  him  forever.  The  equity 
man  may  go  into  the  district  court,  and  drive  his  case  through 
there,  with  the  enlargement  and  amendations  of  perjury,  and 
compel  three  judges,  instead  of  one,  to  sit  by  and  hear  him  for  a 
week,  until  he  gets  through  with  all  these  witnesses.  I  believe 
that  that  one  reform  in  our  practice  would  cut  down  from  one- 

S 


66  OHIO    STATE    BAR    ASSOCIATION 

third  to  one-half  of  the  time  necessarily  consumed  in  the  district 
court. 

Now,  gentlemen,  how  about  the  lawyers?  You  know  it  is  a 
sort  of  popular  opinion  with  a  certain  class  that  the  lawyers  are 
interested  in  prolonging  things — running  them  along,  the  longer 
the  better.  They  seem  to  suppose  that  length  of  time  is  equal  to 
the  profession  to  length  of  years,  and  that  each  brings  about  an 
equal  blessing  along  with  it.  Such  an  erroneous  idea  as  that, 
known  to  every  member  of  the  bar  to  be  entirely  erroneous,  should 
also  be  made  known  to  the  people  of  the  state.  Instead  of  the 
lawyers  having  any  interest  in  prolonging  litigation,  it  is  exactly 
the  other  way.  What  the  lawyer  most  of  all  things  wants  is  to 
get  these  troubles  at  the  earliest  day  possible  off  his  shoulders, 
and  realize,  if  he  may,  his  just  compensation  for  doing  the  busi- 
ness. So  that,  of  all  classes  interested  in  speedy  justice,  no  class 
is  so  thoroughly  interested  in  it  as  the  lawyers.  And  aside  from 
any  of  the  considerations  I  have  named,  there  is  the  additional 
consideration,  which  ought  with  the  bar  to  weigh  more  than  any- 
thing else,  that  in  respect  to  the  community  and  the  moral  stand- 
ing they  occupy,  they  are  upon  the  vantage-ground  of  being  able 
to  say,  "We  simply  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  to  promote 
justice  among  men,  and  we  make  that  wheel  roll  just  as  fast  as 
the  wheels  of  justice  can." 

What  is  the  further  effect  of  devolving  the  whole  appellate 
business  upon  a  body  of  judges  elected  throughout  the  state,  and 
included  in  the  supreme  court?  Just  ask  your  judges  of  the 
common  pleas.  They  will  tell  you  that  from  at  least  a  quarter 
to  a  third  of  their  time  and  exertion  is  taken  from  the  common 
pleas  business  in  their  respective  districts  :  and  with  that  added 
intermediate,  or  stepping-stone,  court  in  the  various  counties  of 
their  districts.  What  is  the  effect  of  the  amendment  I  would 
propose?  It  is  to  remit  to  these  judges  the  ability  to  put  in  one- 
quarter  to  one-third  more  time  in  the  disposition  of  the  common 
pleas  business  in  their  respective  districts ;  and  with  that  added 
to  the  power  they  can  bring  to  the  transaction  of  business  there, 
anybody  can  see  they  can  do  the  business  better :  anybody  can  see 
thev  can  do  all  there  is  to  do,  and  evervbodv  will  see  that  the 


REMARKS    OF    R.    P.    RANNEY  67 

state  is  already  supplied  with  a  common  pleas  force  completely 
adequate  with  rapidity  and  dispatch  to  the  disposal  of  all  business 
in  the  first  instance  that  will  find  its  way  into  those  courts. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  taking  so  much  time, 
but  I  desire  that  with  the  resolution  adopted,  I  hope,  sending 
this  matter  to  the  committee,  to  furnish  us  with  a  scheme  for  get- 
ting out  of  the  enormous  troubles  in  which  we  are  involved — I 
desire  to  go  along  with  that  the  information,  or  rather  the  exhor- 
tation, I  make  to  every  member  of  this  association,  and  to  every 
member  of  the  bar  of  Ohio,  to  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  to 
use  his  brains  and  his  best  judgment  to  advise  this  committee  what 
conclusion  they  should  reach,  and  what  conclusion  the  association 
should  adopt,  and  when  adopted  that  all  will  stand  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  or  rather  at  every  man's  back,  who  enforces  upon  the 
legislature  and  the  people  the  indispensable  necessity  of  making 
Ohio  as  honest  in  these  respects,  at  least,  as  other  states  are. 


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